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English Premier League side, Everton, have finally sacked manager, Marco Silva, after 18 months, which brought some of the worst results for the club.

The management of the club took the decision to relief Silva of his job after they were pummelled by city rivals – Liverpool – on Wednesday 5-2, leaving them languishing in the relegation zone on the league table.

Silva won 24 and lost 24 of his 60 games after taking charge of the team in May 2018.

Everton are now searching for their fourth permanent boss since Roberto Martinez was sacked in May 2016.

Former manager, David Moyes, has been considered as a potential interim successor, but the suggestion has sparked a largely negative reaction from supporters.

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Opeyemi, wife of pro-democracy activist and Publisher of SaharaReporters, a pioneering online news platform – Omoyele Sowore – has said that she and their children cannot wait to have the 48-year-old back home.

Since August 3, 2019 when the outspoken social crusader was arrested in Lagos by the Department of State Services for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, life had not been the same for the quick-smiling mother of two and all those around her.

From partaking in walks and events turning global attention to the illegal detention of Sowore in the facility of the DSS at the time to appearing at revered television programmes demanding justice on his matter, Opeyemi indeed went the mile in telling the world, who the man she was married to truly was.

But against widespread expectations, things took a different twist on Thursday.

Hours after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the DSS to release him within 24 hours after twice meeting his bail conditions, the secret police and their collaborators in high places budged – Sowore walked out of the dreaded facility a free, liberated man.

Though his trial in the case brought against him by the Nigerian Government commences on December 6 (Friday), his release on bail marks an entirely new journey in his bid for complete freedom.

Reacting to the development on Thursday, Opeyemi said that despite the delay in the release of her husband after two court orders to that effect, they look forward to his safe return home.

She said, “After 125 days of his illegal detention, my husband was released on bail for conditions he met weeks ago.

“While I am grateful for his long overdue release, I remain concerned for his safety and resolute on him being cleared on all charges.

“I look forward to his safe return home to our family in New Jersey.”

Described in some quarters as one of Nigeria’s genuine last remaining advocate of the masses, Sowore over the years has faced all sorts of hostile treatments from the government for choosing to stand by the people.

An advocate of equity and justice, those around him say he conquered fear and banished intimidation away from his domain long before now.

Celebrated globally for exposing Nigeria’s corrupt and ruthless politicians, Sowore will beginning from December 6, 2019 (Friday) defend himself in a case brought against him by the government.

He is being accused of insulting President Muhammadu Buhari and attempting to bring down his regime – charges experts and observers around the world have described as baseless and laughable. 

 

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A former federal lawmaker and rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, has hailed the release of pro-democracy campaigner and Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, by the Department of State Services on Thursday evening.

The lawmaker described the 48-year-old’s release in compliance with the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, after more than four months in detention, as a big relief for the entire country and welcome development.

Sani attributed Sowore’s long walk to freedom as a product of resilience and courage demonstrated by the trial judge and defendant’s legal team led by Femi Falana (SAN).

The former lawmaker added that Sowore's ordeal and detention by the DSS had tainted the image of the Nigerian Government on human rights and respect for the rule of law.

He called on Nigerians to stand up against any anti-people policies of the government that may stifle their rights to free speech.

Sowore was released by the secret police alongside his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare popularly known as Mandate, few hours after a ruling by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the DSS to set them free within 24 hours.

Sowore was arrested in Lagos on August 3, 2019 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Famed globally for exposing Nigeria's corrupt politicians through his pioneering online news medium – SaharaReporters – Sowore is being accused and was held by the government for insulting Buhari and planning to bring down his regime – charges observers around the world have described as baseless.

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A former federal lawmaker and rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, has hailed the release of pro-democracy campaigner and Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, by the Department of State Services on Thursday evening.

The lawmaker described the 48-year-old’s release in compliance with the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, after more than four months in detention, as a big relief for the entire country and welcome development.

Sani attributed Sowore’s long walk to freedom as a product of resilience and courage demonstrated by the trial judge and defendant’s legal team led by Femi Falana (SAN).

The former lawmaker added that Sowore's ordeal and detention by the DSS had tainted the image of the Nigerian Government on human rights and respect for the rule of law.

He called on Nigerians to stand up against any anti-people policies of the government that may stifle their rights to free speech.

Sowore was released by the secret police alongside his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare popularly known as Mandate, few hours after a ruling by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the DSS to set them free within 24 hours.

Sowore was arrested in Lagos on August 3, 2019 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to demand a better country from President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Famed globally for exposing Nigeria's corrupt politicians through his pioneering online news medium – SaharaReporters – Sowore is being accused and was held by the government for insulting Buhari and planning to bring down his regime – charges observers around the world have described as baseless.

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The German chancellor makes her first trip to the death camp where 1.1 million people were murdered.

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As the annual COP25 climate change summit continues in Madrid, we asked delegates from all over the world how they were adapting their lives for the sake of the environment.

Pro-democracy activist, Omoyele Sowore, has been released from the detention of the Department of State Services (DSS) where he has been held for 125 days following his arrest on August 3.

Sowore's eventual release came hours after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, sitting at the Federal High Court in Abuja, gave the secret security 24-hours ultimatum to release him.

The court had granted bail to Sowore on two different occassions but the DSS refused to let him out. 

The DSS filed a seven-count-charge bordering on treasonable felony, cyberstalking among other offences.

It had earlier obtained an ex-parte order allowing it hold Sowore for 45 days while it investgated the charges eventually preferred against him. 

Justice Taiwo Taiwo, who granted the ex-parte order later ordered the DSS to release the pro-democracy activist.

He ordered that Sowore be released into the custody of his lawyer, Femi Falana.

However, rather than release him, the DSS hurriedly arraigned him before Justice Ojukwu.  See Also Breaking News BREAKING: You Cannot Have a Parallel Court, Justice Ojukwu Tells DSS Over Sowore’s Continued Detention 0 Comments 10 Hours Ago

Not comfortable with Sowore's prolonged detention, his lawyer filed  a 19-ground-application asking the court to set aside the ex-parte order.

The case was assigned to Justice Nkweonye Maha of the same court. 

 Maha declined to hear Sowore's motion on August 28, on the ground that she did not have jurisdiction to review the decision of Justice Taiwo who granted the ex-parte order.

She declined all applications made by Falana and sent the case back to the administrative judge.

Falana, again, filed another motion on September 13, asking the court to admit his client bail on self recognizance or upon any condition the court may reasonably deem appropriate.

Following the arraignment of Sowore and Bakare before Justice Ojukwu, the court granted him on bail but with stringent conditions.

Justice Ojukwu granted Sowore bail of N100 million with two sureties in like sum. The sureties must have landed property within the court's jurisdiction and evidence of tax clearance. One of the surety must deposit N50 million in the account of the court as security. She also barred him from travelling out of Abuja during his trial.

She granted Bakare a N50 million bail with one suretie in like sum. The surety must have landed property in Abuja. He was also restricted from travelling out of Oshogbo during his trial. See Also Human Rights Sowore, Bakare Object Plan By DSS To Transfer Them To Correctional Centre 0 Comments 1 Day Ago

The activists through their lawyer, Femi Falana applied for the variation of the terms and asked the court for leniency.

On October 21, the trial judge set aside the previous conditions of 50million security deposits by one of the suretie .

She also reduced the N50 million bail of the second defendant to N20 million. Justice Ojukwu, however, refused to vary all other bail conditions.

When the matter came up for trial on November 6, Ojukwu issued a release warrant ordering the release of the activists from DSS detention.

Again the secret police refused to let them go as they go. 

The DSS in one of its press releases had asked  Sowore's sureties to come forward for verification.  See Also ACTIVISM Sowore’s Mother Stands By Him, Says “My Son Is Not A Criminal, Speaks Against Injustice” 0 Comments 1 Day Ago

In another statement the service said that Sowore may be knocked down by moving vehicle if released. 

At the resumption of hearing,  on Thursday December 5  , the judge  lambasted the DSS for flaunting orders of the court court order.  The visibly angry Justice Ojukwu awarded N100,000 as damages against DSS for disobeying her order. 

She also ordered the release of the activists from DSS custody within 24hours.

She has adjourned the case to December 6 for continuation of the trial.

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With DSS' bold outlaw, subnormal intelligence, defective disposition, and outright violation of different court orders, it has become indisputably clear that Nigeria's democracy has been militarised.

The 9th rubber-stamp National Assembly that is supposed to restrain the overreaching extents of the executive has openly obliged to doing the bidding of the executive.

Obviously, the legislative arm of government in Nigeria has transformed itself into a branch of the executive.

Today, the only distinguishing characteristic of our bogus democracy from the military dictatorship is that we waste tax payers’ money to service an institution (National Assembly) that is tractable to executive rascality.

Our democracy is a charade!

If it isn't, the illegal detention of Omoyele Sowore and other Nigerians by the DSS should have been a topical discourse in the National Assembly to check the excesses of the executive.

Nigeria is currently perplexed, bedevilled and overwhelmed by the lethality of human right abuses that ridicules and exposes our own brand of democracy as a fraud.

Instead of a vibrantly energetic and engaging legislature that imposes a legislative sanction on the DSS' boss and the country's attorney-general over the illegal detention of Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare, they are vigorously pursuing bills on hate speech and social media regulation.

The National Assembly is sleeping on duty!

The DSS should be publicly condemned for its chronic law-breaking antecedence.

By the unlawful gestapo arrest, clandestine and illegal detention and persecution of Omoyele Sowore, the Department of State Service, has shown that it is markedly subnormal in function, flawed in intelligence and rascal in behaviour.

The criminal-classed elements sponsored by state actors that took up arms against the Nigerian state during the Kogi and Bayelsa elections were never seen to have committed treasonable felony.

But Omoyele Sowore who only sued for peace by calling on Nigerians to pour out in their numbers to protest against misrule and corruption is being accused of plotting to unseat the government.

What a joke of a country!

Obviously, the DSS is merely a political stooge that react against voices of truth that attempt to call the government to order.

Instead of a vibrantly energetic and engaging domestic intelligence agency that functions as the source of reliable information for mitigating our various internal security challenges, our moribund DSS is all about the pettiness of political arrests and illegal detentions of honourable citizens.

The calculated use of violence against our country by Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram members and other criminal groups with felonious intent have never for once been comprehended by the radar coverage of our so-called DSS domestic intelligence.

Isn't that a big shame?

The DSS has shown that it does not have the structural competence and expertise for espionages and information gathering. That is why the agency relies on online gossips and maliciously divulged information to clamp on citizens.

Domestic intelligence service is also supposed to be responsible for identifying foreign spies employed by foreign services against a country.

Every day we hear of other countries exposing and apprehending foreign spies and agents employed by foreign intelligence services against their government.

Please, how many has the DSS caught? None! Why? They think their job is to go after Omoyele Sowore.

If the DSS understand the danger foreign espionages poses to our country, they'd resign from their pettiness and become serious for once.

Some foreign espionages have access to our country's internet space without anyone knowing their identity.

They are sometimes the ones spreading propagandas and disinformation on our local internet space to cause dissension and unrest.

We are presently under the attack of cyber espionages, but because the DSS do not have the structural competence to checkmate the economic security threat of foreign espionages in our country's internet space, they do not know the danger their activities portend for our country.

I'm writing this to tell the DSS to release Omoyele Sowore right now with an apology to him because he is not a terrorist.

Martin White-Ufuah, a writer and columnist, writes from Abuja. He is the publisher, Ecumenical Review

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