The Nigeria police on Monday invited publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, to a meeting on Thursday with the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigations Department(SCID) in Lagos.
Mr Sowore was a visible participant in the Lagos leg of the #OneVoiceNigeria protest last week.
The invitation, which came in the form of a text message, did not disclose the purpose of the meeting. It merely invited Sowore and his colleagues to meet with the police authorities for an interview at 10a.m at the SCID headquarters in the Yaba area of Lagos.
Mr. Sowore was on January 9 questioned by the police in Lagos following a complaint by Lekan Fatodu over a report by SaharaReporters.
The report detailed how Mr. Fatodu was allegedly used as a front by former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode to corner public funds through the office of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
When Sowore was brought before Fatai Owoseni, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, the police claimed a petition alleging criminal libel had been submitted by Fatodu.
Sowore’s attorney, Femi Falana, on January 12 issued a statement saying the allegations of threat to life, criminal libel and extortion stated in Mr. Fatodu’s petition were false.
A few days after Mr. Sowore’s release, a strange dimension to the matter arose when a lawyer, Ugochukwu Osuagwu, issued a statement claiming that Mr. Sowore had been barred from leaving Nigeria over Fatodu’s petition.
Sowore says he plans to honour the invitation of the police on Thursday, an event which coincides with his birthday.
