Courtroom invasion, an attack on democracy – Oduyoye

The attempt to re-arrest the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, by officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) inside a courtroom, has been described as an attack on democracy and the sanctity of the judiciary.

This position was the Special Adviser on Strategy and Political Matters to the Oyo State Governor, Honourable Babatunde Oduyoye, in a statement he issued in Ibadan, Sunday.

Oduyoye said the attack on Sowore that led to commotion inside a courtroom and forced a judge to scamper for safety, was the peak of several threats to democracy under the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

The former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, flayed the DSS officials for allowing their overzealousness to get the best of them, noting that attempt to arrest Sowore inside the courtroom was an affront on democratic ideals.

According to him, the threats to democracy and democratic ideals had been coming in different guises under the APC government, stressing many APC members, including a serving Senator in Oyo state, had been boasting about how the Supreme Court would hand over Oyo state to them.

He called on the Presidency to institute a probe into the incident involving Sowore in other to clear itself of culpability in the matter.

Besides, he charged the federal government to call its agencies and members of the APC to order so as not to overheat the polity and cause crisis in the country.

He said that failure to rein in the overzealous tendencies would call into question the democratic credentials of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The attack on Sowore under the pretext of being re-arrested is no doubt an attack on democracy. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth that the Department of State Security (DSS) could carry out such impunity with audacity in a democratic setup.

“Of a truth, there is no time in history than now that democracy has been raped and threatened. Part of those threats to democracy is going on in Oyo State where some members of the APC, including a serving Senator, have been twisting the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the State and boasting that the Supreme Court would hand the APC victory on the pending matter.

“The Presidency must, as a matter of urgency probe the activities of the DSS, while also calling its agencies and members of the APC to order on their undemocratic conducts.

“I also think it is high time all men of reason and advocates of democratic governance across the world rose up to condemn these negative developments.”

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