A lawyer representing political activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has accused the Nigeria Police Force of subjecting his client to inhumane and degrading treatment while in their custody.
Sowore was detained on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, after he honoured an invitation from the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit.
In a statement released on Thursday, his counsel, Tope Temokun, alleged that Sowore sustained physical injuries and was transferred from his initial detention location to an undisclosed underground cell under suspicious circumstances.
Temokun claimed that Sowore was injured in the right arm during the early morning transfer and that a harmful substance, believed to be noxious gas, was released into his holding cell prior to the move.
The statement, titled “Police move against Sowore is a murder plot in disguise…”, read, “In his characteristic law-abiding manner, Sowore honoured the police invitation yesterday, August 6, 2025. But what followed was not the normal process of the law—it was the reenactment of the dark days of military tyranny, where state institutions become weapons of vengeance and vendetta.
After honouring the invitation, Sowore was detained overnight, and in the early hours of this morning, he was forcibly moved to an unknown God-knows-where, with such violent handling that it dislocated and severely injured his right arm. As if physical injury was not enough, it was gathered in this calculated attack on his life what is believed to be noxious gas was reportedly released into…”
Drawing historical parallels, Temokun referenced the treatment of late political figures such as Gani Fawehinmi and Moshood Abiola, who were allegedly subjected to cruel detention conditions.
Describing the police action as a “calculated attack,” Temokun added, “The information reaching us now is that he has been moved to an underground cell. Let it be clear: these are not accidents, nor negligence, or incompetence—this playing out events are vivid attempts on his health, his life, and his dignity.
Let it be known to all, both home and abroad, that any harm that comes to Omoyele Sowore, in body or in spirit, will be fully accounted for, and the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, and those who ordered this atrocity will stand answerable before the law and before the people.”
The lawyer demanded Sowore’s immediate and unconditional release, calling the incident a gross violation of his human rights.
He said, “We warn the Nigeria Police to immediately shelve this satanic script of slow assassination, release Sowore unconditionally, and tender a public apology for the cruel violation of his human rights and bodily safety.”
Efforts to reach Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report, as he had not returned calls made to him.
