Activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore was arrested by armed police officers on Thursday, October 23, inside the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The arrest occurred shortly after he appeared in solidarity with the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Sowore, a prominent voice demanding Kanu’s release, was detained by security operatives who insisted he must report to the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.
When questioned about the reason for the arrest, one of the officers stated they were acting on the instruction of the Commissioner of Police.
“The Commissioner of Police said we should bring you to the office,” the officer said.
Although Sowore queried the absence of a formal letter of invitation, he maintained that his lawyer must accompany him before he was eventually taken away in a police van.
Confirming Sowore’s arrest in a post via his X handle, human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, described the move as “preposterous”
He wrote: “The arrest of Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja moments ago is preposterous.
“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system.He should be freed immediately. Stop the shenanigans.”
Persecondnews reported that Sowore had on Monday, October 20, led a protest in Abuja — part of the #FreeNnamdiKanu demonstrations that spread to other parts of the country.
During the protest, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, his brother, Emmanuel Kanu, and 10 others were arrested and subsequently remanded at Kuje Prison.
In the First Information Report filed before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kuje, the police alleged that the defendants, during the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest — which it said was held in defiance of a court order — chanted war songs and disrupted the free flow of traffic.
The police further alleged that they engaged in criminal conspiracy, incited disturbance, and caused a breach of public peace — offences said to be punishable under Sections 152, 114 and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
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