Abuja, Nigeria — Pandemonium erupted outside the Kuje Magistrate Court on Friday when police officers violently assaulted and re-arrested human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, moments after a magistrate granted him bail on charges related to the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest.
Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene where officers, allegedly led by CSP Ilyasu Barau, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) and OC Anti-Vice, FCT Command, pounced on Sowore while his legal team was finalizing his bail conditions.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and pushed him violently into the van. They really manhandled him,” an eyewitness stated.
The incident occurred despite Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d having granted bail to Sowore and 13 others, including Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, and Kanu’s brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu. The court had set bail at ₦500,000 for each defendant, with conditions including a verified National Identification Number (NIN), a three-year tax clearance certificate, and the submission of passports.
Police officers, however, allegedly disregarded the court’s ruling, claiming they were acting on a “secret remand order”to transfer Sowore to the Kuje Correctional Centre. Witnesses claim the officers refused to produce the supposed order when challenged.
Sowore’s counsel, Tope Temokun, described the re-arrest as “a show of shame and a blatant affront to the rule of law.”
“They descended violently on Sowore and others present, and, in the full glare of the public, abducted Sowore and whisked him away,” Temokun alleged. He further stated that he and others were physically assaulted while attempting to resist the “brazen illegality,” sustaining injuries in the process.
The lawyer vehemently condemned the police action, saying the officers did not take Sowore to a prison facility as required by law but instead “spirited him away to an unknown destination.”
Temokun described the act as “a direct affront to the authority of the court, a mockery of the rule of law, and a violation of the fundamental rights of a citizen.” He called on the Attorney General of the Federation, the National Human Rights Commission, and all concerned citizens to condemn the “reckless desecration of the judiciary” and ensure compliance with the court’s bail order.
Sowore was initially arrested on Thursday after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja. His repeated arrests have drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups and international observers, who describe them as attempts to suppress dissent and silence activism.
