Advice Buhari to obey court ruling on Sowore’s release, SERAP tells Archbishop of Canterbury

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Justin Portal Welby, on the detention of #RevolutionNow convener, Omowole Sowore.

The organisation urged the cleric to use his good offices and leadership and his “friendship with President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on him to obey court orders, most recently involving activists Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare, who remain in arbitrary detention despite a court order for their release”.

It expressed “serious concerns about the disturbing trends by state and Federal governments to use the court as a tool to suppress citizens’ human rights”.

In the letter, dated November 11, 2019 by its Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said: “We believe you can use your leadership position and influence to persuade President Buhari to promote the rule of law in words and in action by obeying all court orders, including the order for the release of Mr Sowore and Mr Bakare from arbitrary detention.

“As the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, we believe you can reaffirm your belief in justice, rule of law and the basic human rights of all people by speaking out with a strong voice against the repeated disobedience of court orders and the implicitly lack of respect by the government for the integrity and authority of the Nigerian judiciary.”