Sowore, HURIWA demand Farotimi’s release, oil bunkering allegation probe

Human rights activist, Dele Farotimi, has been arrested by security personnel and whisked away to an unknown destination.

According to one of his aides, the erudite lawyer was arrested in his Lekki Phase One office, yesterday, by two plain-clothes security officers, who came to the office at about 11.00 a.m.

The aide, who gave her name as Sayo, said that the officers allegedly seized the mobile telephones of the six members of staff whom they met inside the office, went right into Farotimi’s office and got him arrested at gunpoint after which they took him away.

Also, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, in a post on his X handle, yesterday, alleged the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have reportedly arrested Farotimi

Sowore, therefore, called for the lawyer’s immediate release, emphasising that the police should not be used to settle personal disputes.

Meanwhile, when contacted on the telephone to confirm the arrest, the Spokesperson of the Zone 2 Police Command, Ayuba Tunni Umma, said: “We did not make any arrests. He is not in our custody.”

But the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Adeniran Akinwale, told newsmen that the lawyer was arrested for various alleged offences, saying: “We are investigating him. We will conduct our investigation and will be able to know his level of culpability or otherwise.”

RELATEDLY, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the immediate release of the human rights lawyer and an immediate end to the constant and vicious harassment of investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement yesterday, condemned the arrests as an assault on democracy and a blatant attempt to silence dissenting voices in Nigeria.

The group expressed shock that Farotimi is being subjected to harassment and intimidation.

The association also denounced the three-day detention of Soyombo by the Nigerian Army, alleging that his arrest is linked to his ongoing investigation into the involvement of security personnel in illegal oil bunkering.

Soyombo’s detention, HURIWA argued, is emblematic of the dangers faced by journalists and whistleblowers in Nigeria, a country that has increasingly gained notoriety for its shrinking civic space.