Popular activist, Omoyele Sowore speaks as he is released , after spending four days in detention at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.
The journalist and activist was apprehended on October 23 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he had gone to visit Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), during one of his hearings.
His arrest came shortly after a #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest was forcefully dispersed by police officers who fired tear gas and warning shots to scatter demonstrators demanding Kanu’s unconditional release since his 2021 detention.
Sowore gets arrested
The following day, October 24, the Kuje Magistrate Court granted bail to Sowore and several others arrested during the protest, setting the bail amount at ₦500,000 each.
Presiding Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d further directed that each defendant must provide their National Identification Number (NIN), a three-year tax clearance certificate, and a valid passport as part of their bail requirements.
After the perfection of the bail conditions, Sowore and the others were freed from Kuje Prison on Monday.
Sowore’s arrest on Thursday occurred after he left the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he had attended a separate proceeding.
Sowore speaks following his release
Speaking after regaining his freedom alongside 12 others, including Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and his brother, Emmanuel Kanu, Sowore criticised the police for acting beyond their constitutional powers by enforcing a court order in which they had a vested interest.
Addressing claims that his extended detention was linked to his description of the Inspector General of Police as “useless,” Sowore defended his remarks, insisting that it was a legitimate criticism of a system that has consistently failed the Nigerian people.
Watch video below …
Sowore has just been released from detention this evening. pic.twitter.com/ACJ9qmra7c
— CHUKS 🍥 (@ChuksEricE) October 27, 2025
