Sources on the court premises said the incident occurred moments after the magistrate granted bail to Sowore and 13 others.
Chaos erupted on Friday outside the Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja after police officers punched and forcefully dragged human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, into a waiting vehicle despite the court granting him bail.
Sources on the court premises said the incident occurred moments after the magistrate granted bail to Sowore and 13 others.
While his legal team was in the process of perfecting his bail conditions, police officers, led by the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the case, identified as CSP Ilyasu Barau, OC Anti-Vice, under DC-CID, FCT Command, pounced on him, manhandled him, and forced him into a waiting police van.
According to witnesses, Sowore was assaulted as he resisted attempts by the officers to take him away without a proper explanation.
“The IPO punched him, dragged him on the ground, and pushed him violently into the van. They really manhandled him,” one eyewitness said.
“When we demanded to see the remand order they claimed to have obtained from the court, the officer refused to produce any document.
“Police forcefully took Sowore to prison despite the bail granted to him. They cited a secret remand order.”
SaharaReporters learnt that the police also attacked lawyers.
The officers reportedly claimed that they were acting on a remand order, authorising Sowore’s transfer to Kuje Correctional Centre.
Witnesses accused the police of disregarding the court’s bail ruling and attempting to detain him under questionable circumstances secretly.
“Meanwhile, the magistrate granted bail, and there was no mention of any remand order,” one of the eyewitnesses said.
Earlier on Friday, the magistrate court granted bail to Sowore and others detained over the recent #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory.
Others are Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu; his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 11 others.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d issued the bail order after the defendants were arraigned on charges bordering on unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.
According to the ruling, the court granted Sowore and the other protesters bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each, subject to the condition that they present a verified National Identification Number (NIN).
The magistrate also directed the defendants to present their three-year tax clearance certificates and submit their passports as part of the bail conditions.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja.
His arrest, which was captured in videos that circulated online, drew widespread criticism from civil society organisations and human rights groups who described it as another attempt to suppress dissent and silence activism.
Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and former presidential candidate, has been a prominent critic of the Nigerian government.
His repeated arrests and alleged harassment by security agencies have drawn condemnation from human rights groups and international observers, who have called for respect for judicial processes and fundamental freedoms.
