Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government over the arrest of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore by the police, alongside dozens of peaceful protesters nationwide linked to ongoing protests demanding the release of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu,
Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters and founder of the #RevolutionNow movement, was seized during proceedings at Abuja’s Federal High Court, where he had attended in support of Kanu.
Eyewitnesses described a dramatic scene as officers stormed the court premises to arrest the human rights activist and politician immediately after the court proceeding of Nnamdi Kanu.
This follows Sowore’s recent mobilization for the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow campaign, which Atiku endorsed earlier this month, calling Kanu’s imprisonment an “abuse of power and an assault on justice.”
In a statement shared on his official Facebook page, Atiku said, “I have just been informed of the arrest of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, by the Nigeria Police, as well as the arrest of several other citizens who were peacefully protesting in different parts of the country.”
“I am shocked and disappointed, but not surprised. Shocked that in 2025, decades after we defeated military rule, this government still treats dissent as a crime. Disappointed because those in power today once thrived on protests. But not surprised, for Bola Tinubu continues to show Nigerians exactly who he is and what he intends to be, if we allow him,” he added.
Atiku zeroed in on the courtroom violation as emblematic of deeper rot: “Sowore’s arrest inside a courtroom is a new low, an open assault on democracy and a grave symbol of this administration’s contempt for the rule of law. The arrest of other peaceful protesters across the country only deepens the stain. Protest is not a crime; it is a constitutional right.”
The former PDP stalwart, who challenged Tinubu in the 2023 election, issued an unequivocal demand: “I therefore demand the immediate and unconditional release of Omoyele Sowore and all those arrested during and after the protest. This government must end its persistent harassment of dissenting voices. Democracy cannot coexist with tyranny.”