By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Political activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, was arrested on Thursday, October 23, within the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja by armed policemen.
Sowore was arrested shortly after he appeared in solidarity with the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The security operatives who arrested Sowore said they were acting on the orders of the Commissioner of Police and insisted that he must come with them to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
“The Commissioner of Police said we should bring you to the office,” one of the officers said.
In a video posted on X by ChuksEricC, Sowore was heard questioning why there was no formal letter of invitation and insisted that his lawyer must accompany him before he was eventually taken away in a police van.
Recall that Sowore is one of those at the forefront of calls for Nnamdi Kanu’s release from detention and led a protest in Abuja on Monday, October 20, as part of the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow calls.
During the protest, Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor; his brother, Emmanuel Kanu; and 10 others were arrested and subsequently remanded at Kuje Prison.
In the First Information Report filed before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kuje, the police alleged that the defendants chanted war songs and disrupted the free flow of traffic during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest.
The court added that the protest was held in disregard to a subsisting court order.
The police further alleged that the defendants engaged in criminal conspiracy, incited disturbance, caused a breach of public peace, and acted in a manner that threatens national security, which are offences said to be punishable under Sections 152, 114 and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
The court has fixed Friday, October 24, for the defendants to take their plea on the charge.
