Activist and publisher, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, was on Thursday arrested by armed police officers within the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja, shortly after showing solidarity with the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Sowore, a vocal advocate for Kanu’s release, was taken into custody by security operatives who insisted he must accompany them to the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.
When questioned about his offence, one of the officers stated they were acting on the Commissioner of Police’s directive.
“The Commissioner of Police said we should bring you to the office,” the officer said.
Although Sowore questioned the lack of a formal invitation, he maintained that his lawyer must accompany him before he was eventually driven away in a police van.
Confirming Sowore’s arrest via his X handle, human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong condemned the action as “preposterous.”
He wrote, “The arrest of Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja moments ago is preposterous.
“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system. He should be freed immediately. Stop the shenanigans.”
Sowore had on Monday, October 20, led a protest in Abuja as part of the #FreeNnamdiKanu demonstrations that also took place in other regions of the country.
During the protest, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, his brother Emmanuel Kanu, and ten others were arrested and later remanded at Kuje Prison.
In the First Information Report submitted to a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kuje, the police alleged that the defendants, during the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest — which they claimed violated a court order — sang war songs and disrupted traffic flow.
The police also accused them of criminal conspiracy, incitement, and breach of public peace — offences said to be punishable under Sections 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
“That on the 20th day of October 2025, you (1) Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, (2) Prince Emmanuel Kanu, (3) Joshua Emmanuel, (4) Bishop Wilson Anyalewechi, (5) Barrister Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, (6) Clinton Chimeneze, (7) Gabriel Joshua, (8) Isiaka Husseini, (9) Onyekachi Ferdinand, (10) Amadi Prince, (11) Edison Ojisom, and (12) Godwill Obiama, all male adults of the FCT, Abuja, were arrested by a team of security agents at various locations within the FCT for engaging in incitement, disturbance and breach of public peace in disobedience to a court order, thereby disrupting the free movement of citizens while chanting war songs and demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is undergoing lawful trial at the Federal High Court, in a manner that threatens national security.
“You thereby committed the aforementioned offences.”
The court has scheduled Friday for the defendants to enter their plea on the charges.
