Sowore Re-Arrested After Court Bail

Tension gripped Abuja on Friday as activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore was reportedly re-arrested by Police Officers moments after a Kuje Magistrate Court granted him bail.

Eyewitnesses said Sowore was dragged into a waiting Police van by operatives led by CSP Ilyasu Barau, Officer in Charge of Anti-Vice under the DC-CID, FCT Command, despite the court’s decision to release him and 13 others detained during the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest.

According to reports, Sowore’s legal team was finalizing his bail conditions when the officers swooped in. Witnesses alleged that the activist was punched and forced into the van after he demanded to see a remand order that was never produced.
“They really manhandled him,” an eyewitness told Daily Post. “The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into the van.”

Earlier in the day, Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id granted bail to Sowore, Aloy Ejimakor (lawyer to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu), Kanu’s brother Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 11 others. The group faces charges of unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.

As of press time, Sowore’s lawyers said his whereabouts remained unknown. Police authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the re-arrest.