Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of threatening to prolong the detention of journalist Zainab Sodiq following his public criticism of her alleged unlawful detention.
Sowore made the allegation in a post shared on his verified X account on Wednesday.
According to him, the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, allegedly told an unnamed individual that Zainab Sodiq would no longer be released because he had exposed what he described as her illegal detention.
Describing the alleged development as a grave abuse of power, Sowore criticised what he called the lawlessness of the security agency.
“This is the most egregiously insane era under the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu regime,” he wrote.
He further alleged that the DSS abducted the journalist, detained her unlawfully and subjected her to torture, arguing that keeping a citizen in custody because of public criticism amounts to a violation of the rule of law and fundamental human rights.
Sowore insisted that Zainab Sodiq should be released immediately and unconditionally, maintaining that no amount of intimidation, blackmail or what he described as hostage-taking would silence those speaking out against injustice.
“The DSS must understand clearly that Zainab Sodiq must be released immediately and unconditionally. No amount of blackmail, intimidation or hostage-taking will silence us,” he stated.
As of the time of filing this report, the Department of State Services had not responded to the allegations made by Sowore.