Rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has been denied bail by the Nigerian Police after his recent arrest, on Thursday, 31st December, 2020.
The Herald also gathered the Nigerian Police have detained Sowore along with some robbery suspects.
The Nigerian Police had, on Friday night, apprehended Sowore, along with 10 other rights activist.
The activists were arrested for holding a procession, tagged, ‘Crossover Protest’, in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Images emanating from social media show Sowore badly injured in the face, covered in a blood stained cloth.
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), Sowore’s lawyer, is said to have dispatched his representative to the detention facility where the Sahara Reporters Publisher is being held.
The facility, located in the Lokogoma area of the Abuja, is fearfully referred to as the ‘Abattoir’ and wasonce home to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), now dissolved.
The attempts by Falana’s representative to free the protesters was frustrated by the Police.
Read also: N10 Billion Suit: Court Summons Sowore Over Alleged Fake Report
The Representative was told that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, was the only one who could order the release of Sowore.
Sowore’s release was therefore impossible as the IG was indisposed owing to the holidays.
Femi Falana (SAN) confirmed to newsmen the failed attempts to get his client and others out.
He pointed out that there was no way his client, Sowore, could be charged with breaching COVID-19 protocols, stating that the protest occurred before the curfew time set for 12pm.
“We have tried to get him out but we were told that the IG cannot be reached and only he can give approval. Sowore was beaten up and he had to be treated by a doctor,” Falana stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, and the police spokesperson for the FCT command, Mariam Yusuf, are yet to respond to the latest development.
The police may seek to charge Sowore and others for disobeying COVID-19 protocols.
On the other hand, IGP and Sowore are set for a legal case of defamation.
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