Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist and presidential candidate, has refused to pay bail to the police, insisting he committed no crime.
This stance comes after he was questioned by the police about a video he posted, showing officers stopping his vehicle and asking his driver to park. Sowore claimed this was an attempt at extortion, a common practice by Nigerian police officers.
The police invitation was a response to the video, which Sowore captioned “Operation Resist @PoliceNG extortion on Nigerian highways! #RevolutionNow”. Senior police officers were angered by the post, accusing Sowore of trying to incite unrest.
Sowore’s lawyers, Marshall Abubakar and Deji Adeyanju, accompanied him to the police station. Adeyanju argued that the police should have referred the case to another agency to demonstrate impartiality, given their involvement in the matter.
Sowore is demanding an unconditional release, maintaining his innocence. He stated that he would rather choose detention than accept bail conditions that compromise his dignity and integrity. This isn’t Sowore’s first run-in with the authorities; he was imprisoned for five months in 2019 for sponsoring a protest against former President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime.
