The Nigeria Police Force has said it arrested human rights activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, on Thursday over Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated this on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja.
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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.
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“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.
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Protest and arrest
Mr Sowore, a former presidential candidate, was arrested on Thursday morning outside the Federal High Court in Abuja while covering proceedings in a separate case.
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.
Take It Back Movement reacts
In a statement on Thursday, the Take It Back Movement (TIB) condemned the arrest and demanded Mr Sowore’s immediate release.
“We have received credible information that the FCT Commissioner of Police invited our comrade and convener, Omoyele Sowore, reportedly in connection with the ongoing #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest,” said Sanyaolu Juwon, the group’s national coordinator.
“We wish to categorically warn that any form of detention, harassment, or intimidation of Sowore by the Nigeria Police Force or any arm of the Tinubu regime will be met with an immediate, nationwide mass action.”
The group described the activist as “a voice of conscience for millions of oppressed Nigerians” and insisted that the right to peaceful protest is constitutionally guaranteed.
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.
Reactions
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 is 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.
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