Charges against Sowore confirms Buhari government’s unprecedented level of paranoia — Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka has described the charges against Omoyele Sowore as a confirmation of the Buhari-led administration’s unprecedented level of paranoia. 

Revealing that he first dismissed the report as fake news, Soyinka added that ‘Sowore’s Issue’ has moved beyond harassment and taken on a sinister direction. He further stated that the nation had failed to learn from past experiences.

He said, “This is utterly depressing news. So, the Sowore affair has moved beyond harassment and taken on a sinister direction. Outside the country where I happened to be engaged at the moment, I can testify that the immediate reaction around me was to dismiss this as yet another grotesque product of fake news, of which Nigerians have become the greatest practitioners. I confess that I also joined in this school of thought – at the start.

“Further checks have however confirmed that this government has indeed attained an unprecedented level of paranoia. I do not believe that the Justice department itself believes in these improbable charges, as formally publicised. So, once again, we inscribe in our annals another season of treasonable felony, History still guards some lessons we have yet to digest, much less from which to learn. Welcome to the Club, Mr. Omoyele Sowore.”

Recall that the Nigerian government filed a 7 count charge against Omoyele Sowore a day to the expiration of the 45-day detention order they obtained against the 2019 Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in August. The charges centered on treasonable felony, insulting President Buhari and money laundering.