Police Explain Why Omoyele Sowore Was Taken to Kuje Prison After Being Granted Bail
The Nigeria Police Force has given its explanation for transferring human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore to Kuje Prison, shortly after he was granted bail by the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja on Friday.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday on charges of incitement and alleged breach of public peace after organizing the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest on Monday, despite warnings from authorities. He was arraigned alongside 12 others, where he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The court had granted him bail set at ₦500,000 with two sureties, and his legal team was still working to perfect the bail conditions when police officers reportedly re-arrested him.
Eyewitnesses, including human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, claimed that over 50 armed officers stormed the court premises, attacked Sowore, and forcefully took him away without allowing his lawyers to confirm any remand order. Adeyanju alleged that Sowore was manhandled, his shirt torn, and that the officers claimed he “insulted the Inspector General of Police.”
According to Adeyanju, “Sowore had just been granted bail, and while we were speaking with him, the police suddenly launched an attack. They dragged him out by force and took him to an unknown location. The officer who led them only flashed a document claiming it was a remand order but refused to let us verify it.”
However, the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, clarified in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the police acted according to the law. He explained that until bail conditions are fully met, the suspect must remain in custody — and if the remand warrant directs that the suspect be held in a correctional facility, it is the police’s duty to hand the suspect over to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).
Hundeyin stated, “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. Where the remand warrant clearly states that the suspect be remanded in a correctional facility, the police must hand him over to the NCoS.”
He added that officers are legally empowered to use commensurate force in the execution of their duties, insisting that Sowore’s transfer to prison was in line with due process.
The development has sparked widespread reactions online, with activists and citizens demanding transparency over Sowore’s treatment and calling for respect for human rights and court processes.
