A chaotic scene unfolded outside the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja on Friday as police officers reportedly assaulted and forcefully re-arrested human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, moments after he was granted bail. Eyewitnesses at the court premises described officers punching and dragging Mr Sowore into a waiting police vehicle while his legal team was in the process of perfecting his bail conditions. The incident drew widespread criticism and raised immediate concerns over the respect for judicial processes and the rule of law in Nigeria.
The fracas occurred shortly after Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d granted bail to Mr Sowore and 13 other individuals who had been detained following the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory. The police team, reportedly led by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) for the case, CSP Ilyasu Barau, OC Anti-Vice, under DC-CID, FCT Command, pounced on the activist, according to sources. Eyewitness accounts suggest Mr Sowore was manhandled as he resisted the officers’ attempts to take him away without a clear explanation for the re-arrest.
Witnesses further stated that the IPO punched Mr Sowore and dragged him along the ground before violently pushing him into the police van. The police officers allegedly claimed they were acting on a ‘secret’ remand order authorising Mr Sowore’s transfer to Kuje Correctional Centre, though the magistrate had just granted bail without mentioning any such order. When onlookers, including legal professionals, demanded to see the purported remand order, the officer in charge reportedly refused to produce any document. Reports also indicate that lawyers present were attacked by the police officers during the scuffle.
The Kuje Magistrate Court had earlier granted bail to all 14 defendants, including Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and Prince Emmanuel Kanu, Nnamdi Kanu’s brother.The court set the bail sum at ₦500,000 each, subject to conditions which included the presentation of a verified National Identification Number (NIN), a three-year tax clearance certificate, and the submission of their passports. The defendants were arraigned on charges bordering on unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace, which they had denied.
Mr Sowore was initially arrested by police operatives on Thursday after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja, an arrest that was captured in circulating online videos.
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