The party said that the invasion of the court is a vindication of its earlier stand that the nation was no longer governed by democratic principles of rule of law and dictates of the constitution.
The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the invasion of the Federal High Court, Abuja, by the Department of State Services on Friday, further confirms that Nigeria, under the President Muhammadu Buhari regime, was finally sliding into a frightening dictatorship.
The party said that the invasion of the court is a vindication of its earlier stand that the nation was no longer governed by democratic principles of rule of law and dictates of the constitution.
PDP, in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said, “Today, the world watched with shock as operatives of the Presidency-controlled DSS in a most horrific manner, swooped on the court, held the judiciary to ransom, disrupted proceedings, scared away the judge, chased away lawyers and journalists, attacked and rearrested persons standing trial within the precincts of the court in a manner that can only be obtainable in Idi Amin’s Uganda.
“The invasion is in a forceful suspension of our constitutional order and a further battering of the judiciary, which points to an emerging lawlessness that can only find space in a military regime.
“Without prejudice to the charge against Mr Omoyele Sowore, the PDP holds that in a normal democracy, it is the duty of the court to determine the fate of an accused, according to the laws and not a resort to brute force by the government to silence persons with dissenting voices.”
The PDP said that the violation witnessed in the Abuja court on Friday, was a direct invitation to anarchy and a huge threat to the unity, peace, stability and corporate existence of the nation and the safety of citizens.
The party added, “Indeed, this is not the Nigeria our citizens yearn for and it is imperative to restate that Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency, is fast sliding into a dark country where laws are suspended, the judiciary is assaulted and citizens are stripped of their fundamental rights.
“The international community must have more than a passing glance at the situation in Nigeria as any crisis in our country, God forbid, given our population is capable of having a negative effect across the African continent and other parts of the world.”