No Journalist Has Been Detained By FG Since 2015 – Buhari On Sowore’s Release

The Presidency has finally reacted to the release of SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, saying the administration has never jailed any journalist.

It said this in relation to its claim that some international news outlets had mistakenly been describing his release as that of a journalist.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Buhari administration has never, since coming into office in 2015, detained a journalist, seized copies of newspapers or shut down a medium of information,” says Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman.

“Sowore called for a revolution to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria. He did so on television, and from a privileged position as the owner of a widely read digital newspaper run from the United States of America.

“He founded an organisation, Revolution Now, to launch, in their own words, “Days of Rage”, with the publicised purpose of fomenting mass civil unrest and the elected administration’s overthrow. No government will allow anybody to openly call for destabilization in the country and do nothing.

“The government believes strictly in observing the rule of law but must safeguard public security and will not allow trouble makers to incite the public and cause a breakdown of law and order,” he says.