By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Omoyele Sowore |
In a dramatic courtroom turn of events, Nigerian human rights activist Omoyele Sowore was taken to Kuje Prison just hours after the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja granted him bail. The incident has sparked a fresh wave of controversy, with the police and Sowore's legal team presenting conflicting accounts.
The confrontation unfolded on Friday after the court set Sowore's bail at N500,000 with two sureties. According to eyewitness and activist Deji Adeyanju, while Sowore's legal team was processing the bail paperwork, a large contingent of over 50 armed police officers stormed the court premises.
Adeyanju alleges the officers acted violently, descending on Sowore, tearing his shirt, and forcibly taking him away. He claimed the police refused to present a valid remand order for inspection, only briefly flashing a document before pocketing it.
“We were still perfecting his bail conditions when they launched this attack. We don’t even know where they have taken him,” Adeyanju told reporters, adding that officers cited an alleged insult against the Inspector General of Police as a motive.
However, the Nigeria Police Force has provided a starkly different explanation. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Force Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin defended the police action, asserting they acted within the bounds of the law.
Hundeyin attached what he presented as a remand warrant and clarified a key legal point. He stated that a grant of bail is contingent upon the fulfillment of its conditions. Until those conditions are met and the suspect is officially released, they legally remain in custody. The police, therefore, positioned the transfer to Kuje Prison as a procedural step, not a denial of bail.