Police break silence on fresh arrest of Sowore

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed reports suggesting that activist Omoyele Sowore was arrested on fresh charges and secretly transferred to Kuje Prison, describing such claims as “procedurally incorrect” and misleading.

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, explained that Sowore was not taken to prison on any new charge, but in line with a valid remand warrant issued by a competent court.

He noted that the police acted strictly according to due process, stating that no correctional facility in the country can admit a suspect without a court-issued remand order.

“The story that he was arrested on a fresh charge and ‘whisked away to Kuje Prison to be arraigned on Monday’ is procedurally incorrect. A person arrested on a fresh charge cannot be taken straight to prison. No prison will accept such a person without a remand warrant duly issued by a competent court,” Hundeyin stated.

According to him, Sowore was remanded at Kuje Prison based on the court’s directive pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.

“He was taken to prison as instructed on the attached remand warrant pending when he meets his bail conditions, nothing more! Once the court grants bail, it comes with the caveat that until the bail conditions are met, the suspect remains in custody,” the police spokesperson added.

Hundeyin further clarified that when a court order specifically directs that a suspect be remanded in a correctional facility rather than police custody, it becomes the duty of the police to hand over the suspect to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), which then processes the bail conditions.

“This has always been the practice. Why should this be different?” He queried, stressing that the police followed established legal procedures in Sowore’s case.

He also reaffirmed that law enforcement officers are empowered by law to employ appropriate and proportional force when carrying out their duties, insisting that there was no irregularity or misconduct in the handling of Sowore’s remand process.