KEY POINTS

• Sowore alleges unlawful arrest over protest claims.
• Sowore human rights suit seeks N1.2 billion damages.
• Court adjourns case after respondents’ absence.

Rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against Nigeria’s police chief, alleging unlawful arrest, detention, and abuse of state power linked to a peaceful protest in Abuja.

In the action before the Federal High Court, Abuja, Sowore accused the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, of violating his constitutional rights following his arrest on October 23, 2025, near court premises. He added that the arrest was made without a court warrant and was not legal.

Also named as respondents are the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory.

Sowore’s lawsuit questions the way arrests are made

According to an affidavit personally sworn by Sowore, the police arrested him over allegations that he participated in a peaceful protest allegedly held in defiance of a subsisting court order. He maintained that no one served him with any restraining order before the protest and said authorities should have returned to court instead of making an arrest.

Sowore told the court that he neither violated any court order nor committed any offence under Nigerian law to justify his arrest. He said authorities arraigned him the following day, October 24, 2025, on allegations of disobeying a court order, despite a lack of evidence that officials properly served the order on him.

He argued that his detention amounted to a breach of his rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, and dignity of the human person as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The activist further alleged that the respondents acted to intimidate and silence him for exercising his constitutional freedoms

Sowore human rights suit seeks damages, apology

In addition to declaratory reliefs, Sowore is seeking N1.2 billion in general and exemplary damages. He also asked the court to compel the respondents to publish a public apology in at least three national newspapers.

The suit further alleges that the conduct of the police amounted to torture under the Anti-Torture Act, which prohibits torture without exception or justification and prescribes severe penalties for violations.

When the matter came up for mention on Wednesday, none of the respondents appeared in court through legal representation. Justice Mohammed Umar consequently ordered fresh service of court processes on all parties and adjourned the case until March 10 for hearing.