The candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections, Omoyele Sowore has said he would never negotiate any settlement with Senator Ned Nwoko, over the defamation and cyberstalking charge brought against him.
Sowore stated this on Tuesday while addressing journalists shortly after the resumed hearing of the case filed by the police on behalf of Nwoko at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The activist lamented that the Nigerian police had stooped so low and become a tool of oppression in the hands of corrupt politicians and individuals.
He said all the criminal cases instituted against him were aimed at wearing him down and preventing him from speaking truth to power.
He said the prosecutor in the case involving Nwoko at a time told him that he could negotiate with his client as he (Nwoko) was not ready to pursue the case.
“Every opportunity we have to challenge impunity in this country, we will do so meticulously,” he said.
He said, “Two years ago, I was ambushed in front of the Court of Appeal by a group of policemen, accused of defaming one Ned Nwoko. And when we got to the station, they asked me to write my statement and I said what am I writing a statement for?
“They said the guy said he had a reputation that was struck down by cyberattacks from SaharaReporters. That case led to my refusal to cooperate with the police; I said it publicly.
“I told them to take me to court, they brought me to court the next day. When that didn’t hold, they also illegally arrested our lawyer Marshal Abubakar and detained him over the weekend at a prison outside of Abuja.
“They engaged in these terrible police tactics. I know what the police do if you have a police force that is beholding the corrupt elements in our society. I have severally myself gone to the police headquarters to extricate several citizens.
“There is a part of the Nigerian police at the headquarters that is dedicated to certain individuals including Ned Nwoko, Arthur Eze, Emeka Offor. I know all of them and I have extricated even others from these elements. What we are saying is that any police that doesn’t defend the people is not the police for the people and that is why I agreed to come to this court, to come and show how terrible our security forces are.
“So far, there is no arraignment but we know what they are doing. This is a coordinated attack on our movement. Somehow, they want to wear us to the point where we will engage in negotiations.
“In fact, the prosecutor had indicated to me that if I can go and meet Ned Nwoko, that he doesn’t want to do this case. I told him there is no basis to approach any individual in Nigeria that I have not offended.
“I know that policemen go to his house to go and eat and collect money. I have said it even before the former Inspector General of Police.”
The activist said he would never be ruffled by the cyberstalking and defamation charge, stating that he had another criminal case at a magistrate court where he was accused of breaching public peace during a protest on a crossover night.
He maintained that he was used to such bogus and frivolous charges by the previous government and would never shy away from them.
He said, “Apart from these cases, there is a criminal case that led to the breaking of my nose. The judge has now abandoned the case. The judge who is prosecuting the case has been promoted as her own reward for that useless case at the magistrate court where they claimed I was involved in breaching public peace when we were engaging in lawful protest on the crossover night of 2020 to 2021.
“The policeman that broke my nose came to court and I challenged him openly. After those challenges, they have not continued the case.”
