Police clarify Sowore remand, deny fresh arrest reports, insist detention followed valid court order and due process

The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed reports claiming that activist Omoyele Sowore was re-arrested on fresh charges and secretly transferred to Kuje Prison, describing the allegations as “procedurally incorrect” and misleading.

Also read: Sowore bail granted amid #FreeNnamdiKanu protest

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, explained that Sowore’s remand was not linked to any new offence but was executed under a valid remand warrant issued by a competent court.

Hundeyin clarified that the police merely acted on the court’s directive, emphasising that no correctional facility in the country admits a suspect without a court-issued 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.

He added that Sowore was remanded at Kuje Prison pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions, as instructed by the court.

“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,” he explained.

The police spokesperson further noted that once a court specifically orders that a suspect be kept in a correctional facility rather than in police custody, it becomes the duty of the police to hand over the individual to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).

“This has always been the practice. Why should this be different?” he queried, stressing that the Force followed due process in Sowore’s case.

Also read: Omoyele Sowore granted bail after #FreeKanu Protest

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