President-General Buhari should control his wild dogs, says Soyinka on DSS’ rearrest of Sowore

Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, has described the Department of State Services (DSS) as a pack of “wild dogs of disobedience”.

In a statement on Friday, Soyinka described the rearrest of Omoyele Sowore, convener of #RevolutionNow movement, as a degradation of the judiciary.

On Friday, operatives of the DSS rearrested Sowore and Olawale Bakare at the federal high court in Abuja less than 24 hours after they were released on the order of the court.

Before his release, the activist had spent 124 days in detention.

The writer asked President Muhammadu Buhari to check the excesses of the secret police as regards court manners.

“Only yesterday, in my commentary on the ongoing Sowore saga, I pointed out the near-perfect similarity between plain crude thuggery and the current rage of court disobedience. Little did I suspect that the state children of disobedience would aspire to the level of the African wild dogs on a pack hunt,” Soyinka said.

“I apologize for underestimating the DSS capacity for the unthinkable. I reiterate the nation’s concern, indeed alarm, about the escalating degradation of the judiciary through multiple means, of which disobedience of court orders is fast becoming the norm.

“May I remind this government that disobedience calls to disobedience, and that disobedience of the orders of the constitutional repository of the moral authority of arbitration – the judiciary – can only lead eventually to a people’s disregard of the authority of other arms of civil society, a state of desperation that is known, recognized and accepted as – civil disobedience.

“It is so obvious – state disobedience leads eventually to civil disobedience, piecemeal or through a collective withdrawal of recognition of other structures of authority. That way leads to chaos but – who set it in motion? As is often the case, the state, unquestionably. Such a state bears full responsibility for the ensuing social condition known as anomie.

“It has become imperative and urgent to send this message to President-General Buhari: Rein in your wild dogs of disobedience. And for a start, get a trainer to teach them some basic court manners!”