Moments after being granted bail  by the Magistrate court in Kuje, Abuja, men of the Nigeria Police Force rearrested rights activist, Omoyele Sowore outside Kuje prison.

Eye witnesses said Sowore was punched and dragged by the police into a waiting van when he demanded to know why the police wanted him to follow them.

According to a post by one Yope Temokun who claimed to be in court, and shared by Rufai Oseni on his facebook page, the police displayed “raw impunity and disdain for the rule of law” by descending violently on Sowore and whisking him away.

The statement reads:

POLICE SHOW OF SHAME IN COURT TODAY ABDUCTING SOWORE AGAIN IN COURT PREMISES IN KUJE SHORTLY AFTER BAIL WAS GRANTED

Today, within the hallowed precincts of justice, the courtroom, a scene most shocking and shameful unfolded before our very eyes.

After the court had freely and honorably granted bail to human rights defender Omoyele Sowore on liberal terms, a detachment of police officers, led by CSP Iliyasu, OC Anti Vice, State Command CID, invaded the court premises in a display of raw impunity and disdain for the rule of law. They descended violently upon Omoyele Sowore and those present and, in the full glare of the public, abducted Sowore and whisked him away.

In the course of standing up against this brazen illegality, I and others were physically assaulted; I sustained injuries and my bib was blood-stained in the chaos that ensued. The officers, in a most unruly and undisciplined manner, rough-handled Sowore away and whisked him away.

Let it be known that Sowore was not taken to prison, for any legal justification. Instead, the police spirited him away to an unknown destination, a clear and direct affront to the authority of the court, a mockery of the rule of law, and a violation of the fundamental rights of a citizen.

The judiciary is the last hope of the common man. The magistrate displayed courage despite stiff opposition from the police to frustrate bail. That was what irked them. What we saw after was not law or anything close to legality, its police and executive brigandage.

Today marks a dark and painful moment for justice and democracy in Nigeria. Yet, it is also a moment of reckoning, a call to conscience.

To our fellow countrymen who once fell for the propaganda of “enforcing court orders, let this incident serve as an awakening. The government and it’s enforcers are not after enforcing or obedience to court order but just a schemed propaganda to cajole those cant see through to a sinister end.

We call upon the Attorney General of the Federation, the National Human Rights Commission, and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of justice to rise in unison and condemn this reckless desecration of our judicial institution.

We demand deferrence to the order of court granting bail.

Tope Temokun
For Omoyele Sowore
Writing from the Magistrate court, Kuje.
October 24, 2025.

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