CITIZENS COMPASS—Humam.rights bodies across Nigeria on Thursday, called for a nationwide protest to demand the release of the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, from the custody of the Nigeria Police Force.
Citizens Compass reported that the former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) was at the Force headquarters to honour Police invitation.
He was thereafter detained.
Reports have it that the human rights activist was moved to an undisclosed destination after he suffered a broken arm while in the detention.
Some human rights activists described this as an “abduction” by the Nigeria Police Force.
The human rights activist who shared his predicament on the social media said:
“This morning at 6 AM, a police team led by a Chief Superintendent of Police from the IGP Monitoring unit forcibly gained entry into Omoyele Sowore’s cell at the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja claiming they were taking him to court, the team of nine officers, including eight heavily armed personnel, handled Sowore roughly when he asked to see the charges and notify his lawyers, breaking his arm in the process, before taking him to another police facility.”
The post was accompanied by the picture of a visibly terrified Omoyele Sowore with one of his hands on bandage.
In a statement signed by Adekunle Adeyemi Taofeek,
Lagos state coordinator, Take it Back (TIB) Movement, has since called for a protest to demand his release.
The statement titled, “Omoyele sowore has been abducted by the state!,” reads:
This is not just about one man, it’s about all of us.
The Nigerian state has once again shown its disdain for truth, dissent, and democratic voices.
Omoyele Sowore, a fearless advocate for justice and people’s power is being detained by the illegal IGP Egbetokun and his mistress for daring to speak truth to tyranny.
We refuse to be silent.
We refuse to be complicit.
📍Protest Location: Ikeja under bridge
📅 Date: Friday, August 8th
🕘 Time: 9:00 AM
Bring your voice.
Bring your banner.
Bring your placards
Bring your revolutionary fire.
Let the system hear it loud and clear:
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Sowore!
We reject political repression in all its forms!
We stand for justice, for freedom, for the people!
#FreeSoworeNow #RevolutionNow #EndRepression
History is watching. And we are rising.
Meanwhile, a group of protesters on Thursday, converged on the Force Headquarters to demand Sowore’s release.
In the same vein, the legal team of Sowore has called on the Nigeria Police Force to ensure the safety of Sowore.
The team disclosed this in a statement signed by Tope Temokun Esq., for Omoyele Sowore’s legal team titled, “Should anything happen to Sowore in Police custody!
“Given the events of recent days and Sowore’s open call to question the official acts of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, we entertain a strong apprehension that Omoyele Sowore, who was taken into custody yesterday, the 6th of August 2025, following his honoring the invitation extended to him by the Nigeria Police, is not safe in the custody of the Police, under IGP Egbetokun, who has been at the centre of the crossfire of Sowore’s criticism these past months.
“Aside from his conviction that the Inspector General of Police’s continued occupation of office remains illegal, Omoyele Sowore has accused the Inspector General of Police of cronyism and favoritism in the recent mass promotion of police officers in the country, which took place after the protest led by Omoyele Sowore on the 21st of July 2025, alongside other patriotic activists, accompanied by some retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force, which has held the breath of the Force Headquarters for several hours, demanding better working conditions for serving police officers and improved post-retirement benefits for retired police officers is an act firmly rooted in the quest for national development, justice, and the reduction of corruption within the Nigerian policing structure.
“It should be recalled too that during this lawful protest of the 21st of July 2025 at the Force Headquarters, in full public view, Sowore’s AI-powered Ray-Ban eyeglasses were snatched by one person later identified as Mr. Aku Victor Chiemerie, who was also alleged to have a working relationship with the Nigeria Police Force. We, on behalf of Sowore, have written several petitions to the police authorities regarding this brazen act of theft, indicting the Nigeria Police Force for shielding the perpetrator, whose identity and particulars have been disclosed in the several petitions. Sowore has also volunteered a statement to the police to assist in their investigation, but as of now, no concrete steps have been revealed to have been taken by the police. Yet the Inspector General of Police who refused to clear the name of the Police in that ignoble act of thievery of Sowore’s eyeglasses that took place before their very eyes, which is still an issue of concern to us, he has deployed the entire Police Force arsenal to fight Sowore back on his various criticism of his official acts.
“Following the invitation and detention of Omoyele Sowore, the detainer, the Nigeria Police Force alleged there were two petitions leading to Sowore’s arrest: one, it was written by the Nigeria Police Force and the other one was written against Sahara Reporters. The implication of this is that the only one petition that subsists against Sowore today is the petition against Sowore by the Police itself. This implies that the complainant is the same as the arrestor and the same as the detainer and the same as the investigator. How on earth can Sowore be given fair treatment by his accuser in whose custody he is now kept?
“We further reiterate that the Inspector General of Police has lent out the entire police institution to fight a personal battle and has deployed the entire Nigeria Police Force to vent his vile, anger and bitterness by proxy against Omoyele Sowore, who today, and I stand to be corrected, remains the lone voice in the wilderness that has courageously singlehandedly confronted the police authorities, when the country has given up on that institution, particularly the Inspector General of Police, on the rot that has submerged the entire Police as an institution, which has been thrown into the eye of the storm today by the moral crisis arising from the police being the accuser, the arrestor, the detainer and the investigator in its own case.
“While we are challenging the morality, the legality and the constitutionality of Sowore’s arrest and detention by his accuser which we believe smacks of misuse of powers and abuse of public office, which has further enmeshed and entangled the very office he is criticizing in deeper moral crisis, we demand the immediate release of Omoyele Sowore and the return of Sowore’s AI-powered Ray-Ban eyeglasses to him now!
“Given the circumstances surrounding his arrest and detention, we believe what is going on now is not any investigation of any disclosed crime but a shameless persecution by the police highest office in pursuit of personal vendetta, to subdue Sowore and if possible eliminate him, so we fear for his life and safety in police detention and should anything untoward happen to Sowore, the Inspector General of Police should be ready to face the Nigerian people and give account.”
