The Nigeria Police Force has clarified the circumstances surrounding the transfer of activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, to Kuje Prison shortly after a magistrate court granted him bail in Abuja on Friday.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday for allegedly inciting unrest and disturbing public peace following a protest he organised earlier in the week demanding the release of detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
He appeared before the Kuje Magistrate Court alongside 12 others, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court granted him bail in the sum of ₦500,000 with two sureties.
However, moments after the ruling, Sowore was reportedly taken away by heavily armed police officers. Human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, who witnessed the incident, accused the police of using force to whisk Sowore away even as his legal team worked to meet the bail conditions.
Adeyanju claimed that more than 50 officers stormed the court premises, assaulted Sowore, and forcibly moved him without showing a valid remand order. He alleged that the officers cited an insult directed at the Inspector General of Police as part of their justification for the action.
In response to the controversy, Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, defended the police’s actions on X (formerly Twitter), insisting that the move was lawful.
He explained that a suspect remains in custody until bail conditions are met, and if the court’s remand warrant specifies a correctional facility, the police are obligated to transfer the individual to the Nigeria Correctional Service.
Hundeyin also attached the remand warrant to his post, stressing that the procedure followed in Sowore’s case was standard practice.
He added that officers are permitted by law to use reasonable force when executing their duties, noting that the transfer was not an act of intimidation but a routine legal process.
