This archive report was first published on 6 August 2019.
On August 4, 2019, Nigerian security agents arrested Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and founder of Sahara Reporters, a Nigerian online news organization.
Sowore, who ran for president as a minor candidate in the February election, was detained by the State Security Service for allegedly making unlawful calls for revolution.
The arrest comes as President Muhammadu Buhari faces criticism for his administration's record on human rights, particularly a lethal crackdown on protesting followers of a Shi'ite leader who remains in detention despite a court order that he be freed.
According to Sowore, Nigeria needs revolution partly because the elections were not credible, along with a list of other issues ranging from corruption to ineptitude.
“We don’t want war,” he said in a July video. “We want a very clean, quick, succinct revolutionary process – surgical. That we put an end to the shenanigans of government, that we put an end to oppression, the corruption of government.”
The State Security Service said Sowore's calls for revolution threatened public safety.
“He’s with us,” said a spokesman, confirming the arrest.
However, a presidency spokesman on Sunday said there is “a difference between peaceful call to protest and incitement for a revolution.”
