There was a slight tension on Friday outside the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja when police officers forcefully dragged and assaulted Omoyele Sowore, despite the court granting him bail.
Witnesses at the scene reported that the incident occurred shortly after Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d approved bail for Sowore and 13 others who were detained over the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory.
While Sowore’s legal team was working to finalize his bail conditions, police officers led by CSP Ilyasu Barau, OC Anti-Vice, under DC-CID, FCT Command, allegedly attacked him.
Witnesses said the officers punched, dragged, and violently shoved Sowore into a waiting police van.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into the van. It was brutal,” an eyewitness recounted.
When bystanders and lawyers demanded to see a remand order, the officers reportedly refused to produce any documentation, claiming they were acting based on a “secret remand order” that allegedly authorized Sowore’s transfer to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Eyewitnesses and lawyers accused the police of flouting the court’s ruling, which had granted Sowore bail.
“The magistrate granted bail, and there was no mention of any remand order,” one source said.
The incident also reportedly involved police attacking Sowore’s lawyers, further escalating tensions outside the court.
Earlier in the day, the court had granted Sowore and the other defendants bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each, with conditions including the submission of a verified National Identification Number (NIN), three years of tax clearance certificates, and their passports.
The defendants, including Aloy Ejimakor (counsel for IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu), Prince Emmanuel Kanu (Nnamdi Kanu’s brother), and others, were arraigned on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbing public peace.
Sowore’s arrest on Thursday after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja has already drawn sharp criticism from civil society groups and human rights advocates.