The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has joined other Nigerians to condemn the arrest and detention of Sahara Reporters’ publisher, Omoyele Sowore by the Nigeria Police on New Year eve.

Spokesman of the group, Abdul-Azeez Sulieman, in a statement, described Sowore’s arrest, alongside four of his friends, during a candlelight procession to usher in the New Year in Abuja, as another “sign of brutal encroachment on peoples’ fundamental rights that has become this administration’s hallmark.”

He reminded the government and its agencies that “universal right to move freely means that a person cannot be arbitrarily forced to remain in, or move to or from, a particular place… 

“The right includes freedom from physical and procedural barriers, like requiring permission before entering a public park or participating in a public demonstration in a public place.

“Based on the above premise, we view Sowore’s arrest for participating in a religious rite indiscriminate, unwarranted, uncalled for and downright unacceptable and a dangerous tendency towards totalitarian oppression and suppression of peoples’ rights,” Suleman said.  

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