The Nigeria Police Force has explained why human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, was transferred to the Kuje Correctional Centre shortly after being granted bail by the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja on Friday.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday by police operatives over alleged incitement and breach of public peace following his role in organising the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held on Monday despite prior warnings from security authorities.
He was arraigned alongside 12 others before the Kuje Magistrate Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties, which his legal team was working to perfect before police officers whisked him away.
Human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, who witnessed the incident, accused the police of violently re-arresting Sowore moments after the court ruling.
“Sowore had just been granted bail, and while we were conferring with him here, the police suddenly launched an attack. More than 50 officers violently descended on him and took him away by force. We don’t even know where they have taken him,” he said.
Adeyanju alleged that the police refused to show Sowore’s lawyers a valid remand order despite displaying a document briefly at the scene.
“The officer flashed the document, and when we insisted on reviewing it, he pocketed it and ordered that they must go. When we asked where they were taking him, he said Kuje Prison. We demanded to see the remand order as endorsed by the court, but he refused,” Adeyanju stated.
He further claimed that the officers accused Sowore of insulting the Inspector General of Police, saying, “Because Sowore called the IG useless, they must deal with him.”
According to Adeyanju, Sowore’s shirt was torn during the confrontation as the police dragged him away before his legal team could complete the bail documentation.
Responding to the outrage, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Benjamin Hundeyin, defended the police action, insisting that it was in line with established legal procedure.
Hundeyin, who shared a copy of the remand warrant via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, said, “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 it is clearly spelt out on the remand warrant that the suspect be remanded in a correctional facility, not police custody, it is the duty of the police to hand over the suspect to the Nigeria Correctional Service, who would then process his bail conditions.
“This has always been the practice. Why should this be different? Also, as law enforcement officers, we are empowered by law to employ commensurate force to get our mandate achieved.”