#FreeKanu: Stop using protests to influence court cases, Presidency tells Sowore

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, has cautioned activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, against using protests to influence judicial proceedings, insisting that justice must be sought through the courts, not street demonstrations.

Dare issued the warning in reaction to Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanu protest in Abuja, led by Sowore. In a post on his verified X handle, @SundayDareSD, he described the demonstration as “counterproductive” and a threat to the rule of law.

“Protests, threats, attempts at mob actions, and inflammatory rhetoric do not aid the judicial process. Instead, they hinder it, create unnecessary tension, and undermine the rule of law,” Dare stated.

He accused Sowore of using “PR agitation and public sympathy” to interfere with judicial matters, calling the approach “outdated and counterproductive in a modern democracy.”

“You cannot employ protest and civil unrest to demand the release of someone accused of terrorism whose case is still in court. Not even in America,” he said.

Clarifying that the case of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), predates President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Dare stressed that the matter remains under judicial consideration.

“This administration respects the independence of the courts and will not interfere in ongoing legal proceedings,” he affirmed.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to justice and constitutional order, Dare warned that while democracy guarantees freedom, such freedom “has its limits.”

“Testing those limits will invite the full application of the law.

“The judiciary must be allowed to do its work without interference.

” President Tinubu remains committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is served fairly and transparently,” he added.