Human rights activist and Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore has raised the alarms of his arrest and brief detention by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
Mr Sowore, who arrived in Nigeria after monthslong visit to the United States of America, where his family is based, announced his arrest and subsequent release by immigration officers in two separate posts on X within an hour.
According to him, the Nigerian Immigration Service operatives said they detained him based on orders.
“DETAINED BY THE @NigerianImmigration, my International passport confiscated.
“I had just arrived in Nigeria from the USA to the MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me,” he wrote.
Less than an hour later, Mr Sowore posted on X that he had been released.
“I have just been released by the Nigerian Immigration after a brief detention and my passport released back to me. #RevolutionNow,” Mr Sowore wrote.
This newspaper learnt that his flight left Washington Dulles International Airport at 6.14 EDT and arrived in Lagos at around 9.43 a.m. Nigerian time on Sunday.
Mr Sowore, a two-time presidential candidate, arrived in Nigeria about three days after his Sahara Reporters raised the alarm in a report that the State Security Service (SSS) was plotting to arrest him.
The Sahara Reporters report, citing a leaked memo of the SSS, said the security agency was plotting to arrest him over his role in the #EndBadGoverbance protest in August.
The Context of the Arrest
Since the 10-day protest which started on 1 August, the Nigerian government has clamped down on the organisers of the protest and many others linked to it.
Over 1,000 persons, including minors, passersby and those who shared posts relating to the protest on social media platforms, were arrested in connection with the protest last month, with the government accusing them of serious crimes including treason and terrorism.
Ten of them arrested in Abuja, Kaduna and other places are facing charges of collaborating with a British socialist, Andrew Wynne, to topple the government of President Bola Tinubu and levy a war against Nigeria.
“This is not unexpected because I have always known that It is part of the broader clampdown by the fascist @officialAbat regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober revolt,” Mr Sowore earlier wrote in his first post announcing his arrest on X.
“In case this becomes another prolonged and protracted detention, I urge our citizens to ensure they ALL stop tyranny by all means acceptable and necessary, by engaging in the planned series of direct actions slated for October 1st and beyond. #EndBadGovernaceInNigerianow #RevolutionNow.”
Sowore's History of Detention and Activism
Mr Sowore is not new to arrest and detention by the Nigerian police and SSS over protests and other forms of activism.
In 2019, SSS operatives arrested Mr Sowore at home in Lagos in a Gestapo manner over his call for the #RevolutionNow protest.
He was immediately flown to Abuja where he was detained for months against a series of court orders granting him bail.
He was prosecuted by the then President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on charges of treasonable felony for more than four years.
The prosecution rambled in court for the period of the witness-starved trial until the new Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, terminated the trial by withdrawing the charges earlier this year.
A Pattern of Arrests?
Last month, the SSS arrested and detained a multiple-award winning investigative journalist Adejuwon Soyinka, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on his arrival from the United Kingdom.
He was released after more than six hours detention.
The SSS would later blame the arrest of the Nigerian journalist on “possible mistaken identity.”
The Future of #FearlessINOctober
Sowore's detention and subsequent release underscores a growing trend of government crackdowns on dissent in Nigeria. The upcoming #FearlessINOctober protests, which Sowore has been vocal in supporting, are likely to face similar challenges. The government's actions raise concerns about the future of free speech and peaceful assembly in Nigeria. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to the planned protests and whether it will continue to use security forces to stifle dissent.
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