The controversial arrest and detention of Nigerian TikToker Saheed Jamiu Osama, also known as Shamsodium, has drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), a national advocacy group, released a strong statement on Friday decrying the treatment of Osama and his associate, Uyime Godwin Udoekwere, describing it as a gross abuse of police power.
According to the YRC, the arrests were carried out by a notorious unit of the Lagos State Police Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, in a manner they described as “gestapo-style.”
The statement, issued by the YRC’s National Secretary, Francis Nwapa, alleged that Osama was lured under false pretenses on July 18 to a video shoot in Lekki, where plain-clothed officers apprehended him and bundled him into a Sienna vehicle.
He was allegedly stripped, detained without food, and denied access to family and legal counsel.
The group said Osama was secretly arraigned before Justice Ibrahim Kala of the Federal High Court in Lagos on July 25, 2025.
He and Udoekwere were subsequently remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Centre on a three-count charge of conspiracy, cyberstalking, and character defamation against Mrs. Omowunmi Aloba, widow of late Nigerian singer Mohbad.
The arrest followed social media posts allegedly shared between July 4 and 5, 2025, which police claim were defamatory.
The police prosecutor, Anthony Iyeye, told the court that Osama and others at large used digital platforms to spread damaging messages against Omowunmi Aloba.
Nwapa revealed that Osama was coerced at gunpoint by police officers to lure Udoekwere—his graphic designer—into an ambush for arrest on July 22.
The YRC noted that defamation allegations should be pursued through civil litigation and not through force or clandestine operations by state security.
“This manner of illegal abduction is not only unprofessional but unlawful,” the statement read.
Nwapa confirmed that legal teams had filed a bail application at the vacation court and expressed optimism that both detainees would regain freedom soon.
He urged the Nigerian government and civil society to resist the criminalization of digital speech and political commentary.
The case has reignited national debates about police excesses, freedom of expression, and the use of law enforcement to suppress dissent online.
The YRC’s bold response echoes wider public sentiment that human rights must not be sacrificed in the name of public order.
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