The Nigeria Police Force on Friday forcefully rearrested human rights activist and SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, outside the Kuje magistrate’s court in Abuja, moments after the court granted him bail.
The incident occurred shortly after the magistrate, Abubakar Sai’id, granted bail to Mr Sowore and 12 others arrested over Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
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Witnesses told Sahara Reporters that officers led by the Investigating Police Officer, Ilyasu Barau, of the FCT Police Command’s Anti-Vice unit, swooped on the activist while his lawyers were working to perfect his bail conditions.
“They dragged him on the ground and pushed him into a van,” an eyewitness who requested anonymity said. “When we asked for the remand order they claimed to have, they refused to show any document.”
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Lawyers and supporters at the court accused the police of acting contrary to the magistrate’s ruling, alleging that officers cited a “secret remand order” that was not announced in open court.
“There was no remand order issued when bail was granted,” another witness said. Some lawyers were reportedly shoved aside when they tried to intervene.
Mr Sowore and the other defendants had just secured N500,000 bail each after being arraigned on two counts of unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.
Those granted bail also include Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, and Mr Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel Kanu.
The defendants are required to submit their passports, present a verified National Identification Number (NIN) and a three-year tax clearance certificate as part of the conditions.
Police react to an arrest
Mr Sowore was arrested on Thursday by police officers shortly after he left the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he was covering proceedings in a separate matter.
Spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Benjamin Hundeyin, told journalists that Mr Sowore allegedly led protesters into a restricted area during Monday’s demonstration demanding the release of Mr Kanu.
Mr Hundeyin said Mr Sowore allegedly led a group of protesters into a restricted area during a demonstration calling for the release of detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
He said the arrest was part of efforts to ensure that justice applies equally to everyone involved.
“If we go ahead to charge some people to court and leave the person who led them into that restricted area — their leader, the elite protester who directed and took them there — that would not be fair,” Mr Hundeyin said.
He added that Mr Sowore would not be detained beyond the time permitted by law and would be arraigned without delay.
“Like the others, he wouldn’t spend up to 24 hours with us. Once we finalise the charges, he will be prosecuted. In fact, if everything goes as planned, he will be taken to court today,” the police spokesperson said.
Protest and arrest
Mr Sowore, a former presidential candidate, was arrested on Thursday morning outside the Federal High Court in Abuja.
His arrest followed a protest on Monday in which demonstrators demanded the unconditional release of Mr Kanu, who has been held by the State Security Services (SSS) since his re-arrest in 2021 after jumping bail in 2017.
During Monday’s protest, police fired teargas to disperse the crowd and arrested 12 people, including Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and his brother, Emmanuel Kanu.
Videos from the scene showed Mr Sowore running from the protest site around the Transcorp Hilton area in Abuja before police began making arrests.
Previous run-ins with security agencies
Thursday’s arrest adds to a growing list of confrontations between Mr Sowore and Nigerian security agencies since 2019, when he was detained by the DSS on treason charges for organising the #RevolutionNow protests.
He has since faced multiple criminal cases filed by the police and SSS, including allegations of forgery and cyberstalking against the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and a senior female officer.
Mr Sowore has dismissed the cases as politically motivated, describing the charges as “bogus and farcical” in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“They falsely allege that I forged a police wireless message and cyber-bullied the IGP’s ‘girlfriend’ and PSO, ACP Yemisi Kuti,” he wrote.
His lawyers, including Tope Temokun and rights advocate Deji Adeyanju, were at the FCT Police Command on Thursday to demand access to him after reports that he was being held at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Mr Adeyanju later confirmed he had seen Mr Sowore after being initially denied access.
Rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights have repeatedly condemned the Nigerian government’s handling of protests and its prosecution of critics.
Legal experts also say the use of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act against journalists and activists mirrors a growing pattern of criminalising dissent.
The Take It Back Movement (TIB), a civic group aligned with Mr Sowore, had condemned the arrest and threatened nationwide protests if he was not released immediately.
The group described his detention as “an attempt to silence dissenting voices under the guise of law enforcement.”
Several rights groups have also linked the arrest to Nigeria’s broader pattern of targeting journalists and activists, despite constitutional guarantees of free expression.
