Activist and Co-Defendants Secure Bail After Arrest Over #FreeNnamdiKanuNow Protest

An Abuja magistrate court on Friday granted bail to prominent activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, alongside twelve other individuals, including Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the brother of the detained IPOB leader, and Aloy Ejimakor, one of the IPOB leader’s lawyers.

Dependable NG reports that the group was arrested during a Monday, October 21, demonstration held in the Federal Capital Territory with the hashtag #FreeNnamdiKanuNow. Following the protest, the court on Tuesday had initially remanded Aloy Ejimakor, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 11 others at the Kuje Correctional Centre on charges related to criminal conspiracy, disobedience of a lawful order, inciting disturbance, and disturbance of public peace.

Sowore’s own arrest came later, on Thursday, when police officers apprehended him shortly after he left the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he had been for a separate matter. According to the Nigeria Police Force, Sowore was arrested for allegedly leading the protesters into a restricted area during the Monday demonstration, a violation of a subsisting court order that restricts protests within the FCT. The police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, explained that the arrest was to ensure fair play, as the person who led the “elite protesters” into the restricted zone should not be left out of the prosecution.

The magistrate, Abubakar Umar Sai’id, granted bail to all 13 defendants in the sum of N500,000 each. As part of the bail conditions, the defendants are required to submit their passports, present a verified National Identification Number (NIN), and a three-year tax clearance certificate. Despite the court’s bail order, sources from the court premises indicated that police officers immediately re-arrested Sowore outside the Kuje court shortly after the ruling was delivered.