Nigerians, A people with extraordinary capacity for noise

A Nigerian civil society group known as SERAP is reported to have written to the UN Human Rights Council regarding Sowore. They urged the UN Council to order the Nigerian Government to release Sowore.

This is as much a propaganda as Sowore’s bogus revolution. The UN Council they refer to will do absolutely nothing in Sowore’s case because Nigeria has followed its laws meticulously in the manner they have handled Sowore. We saw the video of the arrest. The suspect was not brutalized when arrested. They did not harass the lady they saw with him in his hotel room. The operatives acted professionally. Otherwise, they would have arrested him with the lady or say something to reveal the identity of the lady to embarrass him. They left the lady alone. They did not brutalize him during arrest.

Also, they treated Sowore decently after his arrest. For instance, they flew him to Abuja without placing him in handcuffs. Otherwise, they actually move other suspects by road, handcuffed and blindfolded for the 9 to 10 hours journey through the rough Nigerian roads. But they gave Sowore the best treatment they could afford.

Further, since he arrived in Abuja, he has been treated fairly. As one Adeyanju, a friend of Sowore, revealed on his Facebook post, Sowore was given access to friends who were allowed to bring food to him and even take pictures of him in DSS custody. Also, Falana, Sowore’s lawyer has confirmed that he has had both telephonic and physical contact with him. So, essentially Sowore has received much better treatment in Nigeria than the Wikileak cofounder, Julian Asenge, has received in the UK. So, what is the special argument that SERAP can make to the UN Council?

Also, the detention of Sowore is now pursuant to a valid order by a court of competent jurisdiction. All Sowore’s due process rights have been observed and are in tact. Sowore’s lawyer has indicated in many public speeches that he would file an application with the courts to secure the release of Sowore. That means an affirmation that Sowore has adequate remedy within the Nigerian legal system and he has not been denied access to the Nigerian courts. And finally, there is no doubt that Sowore is represented by a competent lawyer. Indeed, going by his speeches, Falana is the best lawyer in Nigeria.

Do you now understand how silly the effort of SERAP is? It is just noise and smoke without fire. The UN Council may thank them, and they push aside their irrelevant letter. The UN Council has more important things to deal with. They cannot interfere with a properly progressing trial of a treason and terrorism case, where the suspect is represented by the best lawyer in the country.

What troubles me really is that SERAP people know all this. Why then did they bother to send a letter to the UN Council and let the world know that on pages of newspaper? The answer is simple. The Nigerian megalomania! Just like the pretended revolution, this is a pretended international law activism. We Nigerians need to save ourselves from this kind of pretence and propaganda.