Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has announced that the Nigeria Police Force will hold him in custody until further notice.
This followed his refusal to accept their bail conditions, which he described as “illegal”.
SaharaReporters learnt that Sowore will be taken to the police office located at Abattoir, which was formerly used by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Abuja.
Earlier, he described the bail conditions imposed on him by the Nigerian Police as ridiculous.
The conditions include producing a level 16 civil servant as a surety and surrendering his passport.
WATCH: @YeleSowore Being Moved To Detention At IRT At Abattoir Police Station In Apo After Rejecting ‘Illegal’ Bail Conditions Set By @PoliceNG pic.twitter.com/qVH27BlFZD
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) January 27, 2025
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) January 27, 2025
Sowore had honoured an invitation by the police over his exposé on officers allegedly extorting motorists along Ikeja, Lagos State.
However, he has rejected the bail terms outright.
Sowore made this known on Monday, via his X handle, saying, “The PoliceNG team assigned to my case has informed me that the DIG of FID, Dasuki Galandachi, has reevaluated my bail conditions, necessitating the production of a level 16 civil servant and the surrender of my international passport, a condition I have declined outright.
“I refuse to participate in any arrangement that undermines my personal integrity.”
The DIG of FID, Dasuki Galandachi at the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja had just informed me that he has instructed his personnel to grant me bail, pending the conclusion of the “investigation”.
I have also advised the DIG that in accepting “bail”, I will not agree to conditions… pic.twitter.com/aqEzgBKLMc
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) January 27, 2025
His legal counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), has backed his stance, citing a Court of Appeal ruling in Dasuki v. Director-General.
Falana stated that such conditions had previously been declared illegal.
Sowore’s confrontation with the authorities follows his longstanding activism and investigative efforts, often spotlighting systemic corruption and rights abuses in Nigeria.
“Below is also the response of my lawyer, Femi Falana SAN to the ridiculous request of the Nigeria Police,” Sowore wrote.
Falana, in a letter addressed to the DIG, wrote, ” Dear Hon DIG,
“Thanks for reducing the bail condition of Mr. Omoyele Sowore to a surety of level 16.
“However, I wish to point out that such bail condition has been declared illegal by the Court of Appeal in the case of Dasuki V. Director-General, S.S.S. [2020]10 NWLR PT.1731 PG. 136-143 where Adah JCA (now JSC) held as follows:
“Let me quickly say that of concern it is to us that as a court we must be ready and sensitive enough not to allow or do anything that will run foul of the law. The issue of involving civil servants or Public Officers in the Public Service of the Federation and the State in bail of people accused of criminal offences has never been the practice in Nigeria or any part of the civilized world.
“It was an oversight on our part to allow it in. Our Civil and Public Service Rules do not have any room for it. Expecting a Level 16 Servant to own property worth N100,000,000, will be running counter to the Public Service Rules and by extension the war against corruption.”
“It is in this respect that I will act ex debito justitiae to ensure that the aspect of involving serving Public Servant below the status of Level 16 Officer in either the state or Public Service of the Federation or any of its agencies be removed and I so order,” Falana added.
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that Sowore had rejected the bail conditions given to him by the police following his invitation for questioning over a viral video he recorded, highlighting extortion by police officers on the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Access Road in Lagos.
Sowore, in a post on his X account on Monday, said, “I have rejected a bail condition asking me to present a level 17 Permanent Secretary, instead I have offered to remain in police custody pending when the joke is over with.”
Earlier, Sowore said the Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Federal Intelligence Department (FID) at the Nigeria Police Force informed him that he had instructed his personnel to grant him bail.
According to him, the bail is to be granted pending the conclusion of the investigation into his case.
The police are investigating Sowore for “resisting and obstructing public officers, disobedience to lawful order, acts intended to cause grievous harm or prevent arrest, compelling action by intimidation, reckless & negligent acts, refusal to assist public servant and cyberstalking in which your name featured, prominently”.
This follows his invitation for questioning over a viral video he recorded, highlighting alleged extortion by police officers on the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Access Road in Lagos.
In the previous post on his X account, Sowore said, “The DIG of FID, Dasuki Galandachi at the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja had just informed me that he has instructed his personnel to grant me bail, pending the conclusion of the “investigation”.
“I have also advised the DIG that in accepting “bail”, I will not agree to conditions that compromise my innocence, dignity, and integrity. If such unreasonable conditions are imposed, I will choose to remain in detention until I am charged to court, even then I know that there is no crime defined or to be investigated it is just the impunity that has become the hallmark of the @PoliceNG hierarchy.”
