{"id":11379,"date":"2019-08-04T19:06:06","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T19:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5626"},"modified":"2019-08-04T19:06:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T19:06:06","slug":"new-development-nigerian-government-plans-to-slam-treason-charge-against-omoyele-sowore-sahara-reporters-publisher-may-face-life-imprisonment-if-convicted-we-have-credible-information-that-om","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/new-development-nigerian-government-plans-to-slam-treason-charge-against-omoyele-sowore-sahara-reporters-publisher-may-face-life-imprisonment-if-convicted-we-have-credible-information-that-om\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW DEVELOPMENT: NIGERIAN Government plans to slam TREASON Charge against OMOYELE SOWORE…Sahara Reporter’s Publisher may face LIFE imprisonment if convicted * ‘We have credible information that Omoyele Sowore is in contact with some foreign actors to destabilize and overthrow the country. He is in our custody’-Nigeria Secret Service * Treason crime by Nigerian Constitution: ‘Any person conspiring with any person, either within or without Nigeria, to levy war against the state with the intent to cause such levying of war as would be treason if committed by a citizen of Nigeria, is guilty of treason and is liable to punishment of death. Whoever commits treason shall be punished with death, and whoever attempts or abets treason shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any less term or with fine or with both’ * ‘Sowore has been removed as national chairman of the African Action Congress for misappropriation of funds. We have accused him of enjoying inflow of foreign funds into the party and retaining same personally in contravention of section 225, (3) (4) of the 1999 constitution”-Oladele Ade, Acting Director of Communications, AAC * ‘Those those that sacked Sahara Reporter’s publisher from AAC are misguided individuals on suspension\u201d-Sowore’s camp react BY EMMANUEL OGEBE\/SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, ABUJA & IJEOMA CLARKSON\/POLITICAL WRITER, LAGOS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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NEW DEVELOPMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NIGERIAN\nGovernment plans to slam TREASON Charge against OMOYELE\nSOWORE<\/strong>…Sahara\nReporter’s Publisher may face LIFE imprisonment if convicted<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* ‘We have credible information that Omoyele\nSowore is in contact with some foreign actors to destabilize and\noverthrow the country. He is in our custody’-Nigeria Secret Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Treason crime by Nigerian Constitution: ‘<\/strong>Any\nperson conspiring with any person, either within or without Nigeria,\nto levy war against the state with the intent to cause such levying\nof war as would be treason if committed by a citizen of Nigeria, is\nguilty of treason and is liable to punishment of death. <\/strong>Whoever\ncommits treason shall be punished with death, and whoever attempts or\nabets treason shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any\nless term or with fine or with both’<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* ‘Sowore has\nbeen removed as national chairman of the African Action Congress for\nmisappropriation of funds. We have accused him\nof enjoying inflow of foreign funds into the party and retaining same\npersonally in contravention of section 225, (3) (4) of the 1999\nconstitution”-Oladele Ade, Acting Director of Communications,\nAAC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

* ‘Those those\nthat sacked Sahara Reporter’s publisher from AAC are misguided\nindividuals on suspension\u201d-Sowore’s camp react<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\nEMMANUEL OGEBE\/SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, ABUJA & IJEOMA\nCLARKSON\/POLITICAL WRITER, LAGOS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THESE\nARE NOT THE BEST OF TIMES FOR SAHARA REPORTER’S PUBLISHER, OMOYELE\nSOWORE, a former Presidential candidate and national chairman of the\nAfrican Action Congress (AAC) as Nigeria’s State Security Police\n(DSS) arrested the political activist who had earlier planned to\nstage a massive protest against the government of Nigeria’s\nPresident, Muhammadu Buhari. DSS claimed based on the prior\nintelligence report they received, they alleged that Sowore was\npicked up when information reached them that he is working\nhand-in-gloves with some unnamed foreign bodies purposely to\n‘overthrow and destabilize Nigeria.’ <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDepartment of State Security on Sunday confirmed it has Sowore in its\ncustody. Sowore was arrested on Saturday by operatives of the\nDSS in his Lagos residence over proposed #RevolutionNow protests\nbilled for Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya confirmed this to reporters\nduring a briefing at the DSS headquarters in Abuja. The spokesperson\nsaid the secret police was aware that Sowore had been in touch with\nforeign actors to destabilise Nigeria. He did not provide details of\nSowore\u2019s detention location, or if he will be taken to court.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further investigation by NAIJA STANDARD within the nation’s\nsecurity intelligence confirmed that plans have been concluded by DSS\nto arraign Sowore in court for TREASON, as it is thoroughly believed\nthat the former presidential candidate was allegedly in contact with\nsome ‘unnamed foreign bodies to deliberately overthrow the\nadministration of President Buhari.’ <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This security source told NAIJA STANDARD that though no date\nhas been set for Sowore’s trial, \u201cbased on the water-tight TREASON\ncase being put together against by DSS when the matter comes up in\ncourt, it will be difficult for Sahara Reporter’s publisher to\nwriggle out, as the Federal government is collating all the paper\ntrails, phone calls, electronic mails correspondence between Sowore\nand some groups Overseas who are bent on causing chaos, causing\ntrouble in Nigeria. Don’t forget that the theme of Sowore’s\nnationwide protest earlier scheduled for tomorrow Monday is\n#RevolutionNow. Do you think the government will fold its arms and\nallow the country to go into crisis?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If convicted in court for TREASON, Sowore may face life jail in\nprison or harsher penalty. As Treason is defined by Nigerian\nConstitution this way: \u201cAny\nperson conspiring with any person, either within or without Nigeria,\nto levy war against the state with the intent to cause such levying\nof war as would be treason if committed by a citizen of Nigeria, is\nguilty of treason and is liable to punishment of death. Whoever\ncommits treason shall be punished with death, and whoever attempts or\nabets treason shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for any\nless term or with fine or with both.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile AAC has cut off ties with Sowore and abandon him in\nhis trial. AAC in an official statement by Oladele Ade, Acting\nDirector of Communication states that \n\u201cSowore has been removed as national chairman of the African Action\nCongress. We have accused him\nof enjoying inflow of foreign funds into the party and retaining same\npersonally in contravention of section 225, (3) (4) of the 1999\nconstitution.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This political\nparty that produced him in the last general election stated that some\nmembers of the\nNational Executive Committee (NEC) of the party has recently removed\nhim as national chairman for alleged misappropriation of funds. Ade\nalso announced the appointment of Leonard Nzenwa as the acting\nNational Chairman.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAccording\nto the statement announcing Sowore’s removal, the party said: “NEC\nhad in a letter inviting the former National Chairman of the party\ndated March 13, 2019 accused him of misappropriation of funds and\nfailure to comply with the statutory requirements of the party to\nhold NEC meeting over a long period of time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“The\nparty in the said seven day notice asked him to appear before the NEC\nto clear himself of the said allegation. The notice of seven day\nsummon was in accordance with article 51 (i) (ii) and Article 52 (n)\nof the party constitution.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSowore\nwas also accused of enjoying “inflow of foreign funds into the\nparty and retaining same personally in contravention of section 225,\n(3) (4) of the 1999 constitution.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“The\nparty leadership had also in a letter to the Independent National\nElectoral Commission (INEC) dated April 25 confirmed the suspension\nof Mr. Omoyele Sowore and nine others in accordance with Article 52\n(k) of the party.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“The\nparty has, therefore, asked INEC and any other persons or group of\npersons to, henceforth, recognise Dr. Nzenwa as its Acting National\nChairman.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“The\nActing National Chairman of the party and other members of the new\nNEC were sworn in today 13th May, 2019 at the 3rd NEC meeting of the\nparty.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSowore\ngroup reacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHowever,\nin a singed statement on behalf of the embattled national chairman of\nthe party, Sowore’s group said those that sacked him are “misguided\nindividuals” on suspension.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“It\nhas come to the notice of the office of the Chairman of the African\nAction Congress that a group of suspended members, induced by\nfinancial reasons and anti-progressive politics, gathered in Abuja\ntoday, 13th May, 2019, and purportedly held a NEC meeting,” the\nstatement read.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“These\nmembers, led by Leonard Nzenwa, former national secretary, who was\nsuspended for financial impropriety and anti-party activities, have\ndemonstrated by their actions that they have never been, and have\nnever shared, the core beliefs that those of us in the African Action\nCongress hold.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n“Leonard\nNzenwa is hereby expelled from the party, and the misguided\nindividuals who participated in the Abuja meeting are suspended from\nthe party until investigations reveal the extent of their\ninvolvement.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#Additional\nreports by Premium Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW DEVELOPMENT: NIGERIAN Government plans to slam TREASON Charge against OMOYELE SOWORE…Sahara Reporter’s Publisher may face LIFE imprisonment if convicted * ‘We have credible information that Omoyele Sowore is in contact with some foreign actors to destabilize and overthrow the country. He is in our custody’-Nigeria Secret Service * Treason crime by Nigerian Constitution: ‘Any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[129,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-11379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-nigeria-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}