Sowore Begins Hunger Strike After 98 Days In DSS Detention

Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has embarked on a hunger strike over his continued detention by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Sowore’s lawyer, Femi Falana, told reporters on Friday that his client has refused to eat or entertain visitors in protest of the refusal of the DSS to grant him bail despite two court orders for his release.

“Since yesterday (Thursday) he has refused to come down. He has refused to see anybody and this is in protest that his rights are being violated.

“He has not eaten because the DSS don’t feed him and he is rejecting food from the people who usually take food to him in detention,” Falana told Premium Times, adding that his client refused to entertain visitors “because there is a court order asking for him to be released, the second one, so he is protesting this.”

Sowore has spent 98 days in custody of the DSS.

The publisher and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general election was arrested on August 3, 2019, for attempting to state the #RevolutionNow protest against the Muhaammadu Buhari administration.

Meanwhile, the DSS on Thursday denied flouting the court orders for Sowore’s release.

Speaking to Channels TV, DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunaya, said the state service was yet to be informed that the publisher had met his bail conditions.