Sowore, a human rights advocate and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general elections, shared his experience at the DSS facility in Abuja, where he was denied access to visit Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra. Sowore strongly urged for Kanu’s immediate release and criticized the Nigerian government led by President Bola Tinubu for following the same unlawful approach as his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, by keeping Kanu detained despite court orders.
During his attempt to visit Kanu, Sowore recounted his encounter with the Department of State Services (DSS) and expressed his disappointment at being denied access. He revealed that he had been invited by Kanu for the visit, but after going through a lengthy process, the DSS denied him access to Kanu. This marked the second time Sowore was lawfully denied the opportunity to visit Kanu.
“#FreeNnamdiKanuNow I spend several hours at the @OfficialDSSNG headquarters in Abuja, I was invited by Onyedu @MaziNnamdiKanu to pay him a visit in custody, however, after hours of rigmarole the DSS told me I can’t see him today.
“This is the second time I am being denied lawfully ordered visitation to Mazi since his illegal abduction from Kenya.
“The @officialABAT regime continues to demonstrate intolerance towards lawful agitation for self determination. Tinubu is not different from @MBuhari,” Sowore wrote on his X, formerly known as Twitter,” Sowore said.
SaharaReporters had days ago reported that Kanu said he would no longer beg the Nigerian government for his release after being cleared by Justice Binta Nyako of a Federal High Court in Abuja.
In a letter dated August 25, 2023, and signed by Kanu’s lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, made available to newsmen on Monday, the legal practitioner had bemoaned the deplorable condition of Kanu’s detention facility in the custody of the Department of State Services.
The lawyer had asked the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory’s High Court to appoint a Magistrate to inspect the detention institution.
According to Kanu, begging for his freedom now would be an insult to the memory of the late Pa Mbazulike Amechi, who, despite his age and ill health, repeatedly travelled from the South-East to Abuja, pleading with the Federal Government to honour his dying wish, which was treated with disdain and was also not honoured.