Garba Mohammed
Fresh controversy erupted in Abuja on Friday after human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, was whisked away to the Kuje Correctional Centre barely moments after being granted bail by a Magistrate Court.
Sowore, who was arrested on Thursday for allegedly inciting public unrest and breaching the peace during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest, was arraigned alongside 12 others before the Kuje Magistrate Court. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The court subsequently granted him bail in the sum of ₦500,000 with two sureties, and his lawyers were reportedly perfecting the conditions when events took a dramatic turn.
According to eyewitnesses, more than fifty armed police officers stormed the court premises shortly after the bail ruling, pounced on Sowore, and forcefully took him away. His associates described the scene as chaotic and violent.
Human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, who was present at the court, accused the police of brutality and contempt for the judiciary. “Sowore had just been granted bail, and while we were conferring with him here, the police suddenly launched an attack. More than 50 officers violently descended on him and took him away by force. We don’t even know where they have taken him,” Adeyanju said.
He alleged that the officers who carried out the operation refused to present any valid remand order. “The officer flashed a document and when we insisted on inspecting it, he pocketed it and ordered that they must go. When we asked where they were taking him, he said Kuje Prison. We demanded to see the remand order endorsed by the court, but he refused,” Adeyanju added.
The activist further claimed that during the scuffle, police accused Sowore of “insulting the Inspector General of Police,” saying he must be dealt with for calling the IG “useless.” Sowore’s shirt was reportedly torn in the confrontation as he was dragged away while his legal team continued working on his bail papers.
The incident sparked outrage among rights groups and civil society activists, who condemned the manner in which the police re-arrested the activist. Many described it as an affront to due process and judicial authority.
However, the Nigeria Police Force has defended its actions, insisting that the officers acted within the law. Responding via X (formerly Twitter), the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said Sowore’s transfer to the correctional centre was lawful and procedural.
“Except we want to be mischievous, we all know that once court grants a suspect bail, it comes with the caveat that until the bail conditions are met, the suspect remains in custody,” Hundeyin wrote.
He attached a copy of a remand warrant to his post, explaining that the warrant explicitly directed that Sowore be remanded in a correctional facility rather than in police custody. “Where it is clearly spelt out on the remand warrant that the suspect be remanded in a correctional facility, not police custody, it is the duty of the police to hand over the suspect to the Nigeria Correctional Service, who would then process his bail conditions. This has always been the practice. Why should this be different?” he wrote.
Hundeyin added that the police were “empowered by law to employ commensurate force” when necessary to achieve their mandate.
Despite the official explanation, outrage has continued to trail the development, with many Nigerians describing it as another chapter in the long-running friction between law enforcement and human rights defenders.
Sowore, who has repeatedly clashed with security agencies over his activism and pro-democracy campaigns, remains in detention at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the perfection of his bail conditions.
For now, the police insist they acted by the book — but for many Nigerians, the optics of an activist being dragged from court to prison moments after securing bail tells a different story.