Amid the ongoing political saga between Nigeria’s State Security Service (also known as the Department of State Services) and the convener of the Revolution Now initiative, Sowore Omoyele, American politician Senator Robert Menendez, who has held the senior United States Senator position from New Jersey since 2006, has weighed in on the issue.
In a widely-circulated video, Menendez pledged the United States’ involvement in the case. He emphatically stated that the DSS had no right to defy court orders in a democratic system and claimed that Omoyele Sowore hadn’t committed a crime by exercising his freedom of speech.
Menendez expressed:
“The United States is watching and the world is watching. I fear that the blatant harassment of Mr Omoyele Sowore, an activist and journalist whose only crime appears to be exercising his right to free expression, is becoming symptomatic of increasingly closing political and civic space in Nigeria,” Menendez said.
“The Nigerian court has twice ordered his release on bail. And the state security agencies openly defied the court order each time leaving me to conclude that either Nigeria no longer respects the rule of law or President Buhari is woefully out of touch with what agents of his governments are doing in his name.
“This is unacceptable in a country that calls itself a democracy. Journalists who risk their lives to expose the truth should be celebrated, not incarcerated.
“It is unacceptable to that the husband and father of a US citizen with such blatant cruelty. Today, my office contacted our ambassador in Nigeria in an effort to obtain answers on what actions the United States is taking on the Sowore family’s behalf.
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