Nigerian activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, was reportedly re-arrested and assaulted by police officers outside the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja on Friday, just minutes after being granted bail.
Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene as officers, led by CSP Ilyasu Barau, the Investigating Police Officer and Officer in Charge of Anti-Vice under the FCT Command’s DC-CID, allegedly dragged the activist into a waiting van.
Sowore, who had been standing trial alongside 13 others for alleged unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace, had only just secured bail from Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id before the confrontation unfolded.
According to witnesses cited by Politics Nigeria, the activist resisted the arrest, demanding clarification and a copy of the remand order supposedly authorizing the police to take him away.
However, officers reportedly refused to show any such document.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into the van. They really manhandled him,” an eyewitness said.
Sources at the scene claimed the police justified their action by citing what they described as a “secret remand order,” a claim that raised immediate concern among lawyers and civil rights observers present at the court premises.
Sowore’s legal team was said to have been finalizing his bail paperwork when the officers moved in.
Despite protests from his counsel and supporters, the activist was taken away to Kuje Prison, where he is reportedly being held.
Before the incident, the court had granted bail to Sowore and 13 other defendants, including Aloy Ejimakor, lawyer to the detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, as well as Kanu’s brother Prince Emmanuel Kanu.
The defendants had been arrested earlier during a #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja and were charged with unlawful assembly and disturbing public peace.
ALSO READ: Kuje court grants Sowore, Kanu’s lawyer bail
The development has sparked outrage among pro-democracy advocates, who view it as another instance of intimidation against dissenting voices in Nigeria.
Sowore, known for his outspoken activism and history of organizing peaceful protests, has faced several arrests in recent years.
His supporters have since called for his immediate release and for the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the officers involved in what they describe as a blatant abuse of judicial authority.
Frank Talk
