Omoyele Sowore has reportedly been re-arrested on Thursday outside the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja, moments after being granted bail along with 13 others.
According to eyewitness accounts cited by Politics Nigeria, police officers dragged Sowore into a waiting vehicle shortly after Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id approved bail for the group, who had been detained during the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the capital.
As members of the defence team worked to perfect the bail conditions, officers led by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), CSP Ilyasu Barau—Officer in Charge of Anti-Vice under the FCT Command’s DC-CID—allegedly confronted Sowore, punched him, and forced him into a police van.
Witnesses said Sowore resisted when officers attempted to take him away without offering any explanation.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into the van. They really manhandled him,” one eyewitness claimed.
Another source alleged that police refused to show any remand order despite insisting they possessed one.
“When we asked to see the remand order they claimed to have obtained, the officer refused to show any document,” the source said. “The police took Sowore away to Kuje Prison despite his bail, citing a secret remand order.”
Those granted bail alongside Sowore include Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu; Kanu’s brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu; and 11 other protesters.
As of press time, police had not issued an official statement regarding the incident.
