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Police officers reportedly assaulted and re-arrested activist Omoyele Sowore moments after court granted him bail.
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Witnesses claim officers dragged him into a waiting vehicle, citing a secret remand order.
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Legal team accuses police of defying court’s bail ruling.
Nigerian police officers allegedly assaulted and re-arrested activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, moments after a Kuje Magistrate Court granted him bail.
Eyewitnesses told Daily Post that the incident occurred outside the court premises shortly after the magistrate approved bail for Sowore and 13 others who participated in the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Court grants bail to Sowore, Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, brother
According to reports, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), CSP Ilyasu Barau, attached to the Anti-Vice Unit under the DC-CID, FCT Command, led the operation. He and his team allegedly punched Sowore, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into a police van, despite protests from his legal team.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and forced him into the van. They really manhandled him,” one eyewitness told reporters.
Sources claimed the officers refused to produce any remand order, insisting that Sowore was being taken to Kuje Prison under what they described as a “secret remand directive.”
Earlier in the day, Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id had granted bail to Sowore, Aloy Ejimakor (Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer), Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 11 others charged with unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.
The new arrest has sparked widespread outrage, with observers describing it as a brazen defiance of judicial authority and an embarrassing show of power by security agents.
