Police whisk away Sowore after bail ruling, say ‘it’s standard procedure’

There was mild drama at the magistrate court in Kuje, Abuja, on Friday, when police officers whisked away Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and publisher, shortly after he was granted bail.

Earlier, the court had granted bail to Sowore alongside Aloy Ejimakor, one of the disengaged counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and 11 others arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest in Abuja.

Abubakar Umar Sai’id, the magistrate, ordered that the defendants present two sureties each in the sum of N500,000, alongside a verified national identification number (NIN), three-year tax clearance certificates, and passports as part of their bail conditions.

Moments after the ruling, police officers reportedly bundled Sowore into a van, prompting outrage from his lawyers and supporters who accused the police of violating the court’s order.

Tope Temokun, counsel to Sowore, alleged that the activist was “violently abducted” from the court premises by a detachment of officers led by a top officer identified as Iliyasu, officer-in-charge of the anti-vice unit, of the state criminal investigation department.

“After the court had freely and honourably granted bail to human rights defender Omoyele Sowore on liberal terms, a detachment of police officers invaded the court premises in a display of raw impunity and disdain for the rule of law,” Temokun said.

“They descended violently upon Sowore and those present and, in the full glare of the public, 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.”

’IT’S STANDARD PROCEDURE’

But the police have since defended their actions, insisting that Sowore’s removal from the court premises was in line with “standard procedure”.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the force spokesperson, said the officers acted within the law, as the activist was yet to perfect his bail conditions.

“Except we want to be mischievous, we all know that once court grants a suspect bail, it comes with the caveat that until the bail conditions are met, the suspect remains in custody,” Hundeyin said.

“Where it is clearly spelt out on the remand warrant that the suspect be remanded in a correctional facility (not police custody), it is the duty of the police to hand over the suspect to the Nigeria Correctional Service who would then process his bail conditions. This has always been the practice. Why should this be different?”

The police spokesperson added that officers are “empowered by law to employ commensurate force” to execute their mandate when necessary.

Sowore was arrested by police on Thursday shortly after leaving the premises of the federal high court in Abuja.