Activist Accuses Tinubu of Undermining Judiciary Over Sowore’s Arrest

Human rights lawyer and activist, Inibehe Effiong, has condemned the arrest of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, describing it as a mockery of Nigeria’s judicial system under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Sowore was arrested on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja shortly after attending the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Eyewitnesses said plain-clothed police officers approached Sowore and informed him that he was being taken away on the orders of the FCT Commissioner of Police. Despite insisting that his lawyer accompany him, he was forcefully taken into a police van.

Effiong, reacting to the development, described the arrest as “preposterous and unlawful,” accusing the government of weaponising law enforcement to silence dissent.
“The police and the Tinubu regime are making a mockery of our judicial system. Sowore should be released immediately,” he said.

Reports indicate that Sowore had earlier led a peaceful protest calling for Kanu’s release from detention. The demonstration, which began near the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Maitama, turned chaotic when security operatives fired teargas and gunshots to disperse protesters.

Protesters later regrouped near Utako Market but were again chased away by police and soldiers. Authorities later justified their actions, citing a Federal High Court order restricting protests near sensitive government buildings such as the Presidential Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, and Eagle Square.

Meanwhile, Sowore’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, said he has been denied access to his client at the FCT Police Command.
“I have been denied access to my client, Omoyele Sowore, by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of CID,” Adeyanju said.

Sowore has been a vocal critic of the government and an active participant in the Free Nnamdi Kanu campaign, demanding the IPOB leader’s release from the Department of State Services (DSS), where he has been held since June 2021 on terrorism-related charges.