The lawyer representing activist Omoyele Sowore has accused the Nigerian Police of violently re-arresting his client moments after a magistrate granted him bail.

In a video circulating online, the lawyer said that Sowore, who was granted bail along with 13 others arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest, was forcefully dragged into a police vehicle by officers led by CSP Ilyasu Barau.

“We never heard of a protest being illegal; if it’s illegal, it is illegal. If it’s not, then it’s not. But today, the judiciary disappointed the police,” the lawyer said. “They have been masquerading as law enforcers and blackmailing defendants, claiming they violated a court order. But the magistrate courageously granted bail.”

The lawyer claimed that about 50 police officers were present at the Kuje Magistrate Court while his team worked to finalize Sowore’s bail conditions. He alleged that CSP Barau and his men attacked Sowore, physically restraining him and refusing to show any remand order.

“In the course of that, they descended on everybody. I was injured. As we speak, we don’t know where he is,” the lawyer added. “We are still following up on the bail perfection. If we perfect the bail today, the police must justify keeping him. This is illegality.”

Sowore was arrested on October 23 while attending the terrorism trial of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He and the other defendants were initially charged with unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.

The police have not yet commented on the incident.

Source; PM News