Police Wouldn’t Attack Us If We Were Bandits — Sowore Laments After Abuja Crackdown

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the violent police assault on peaceful demonstrators during the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest in Abuja on Monday.

Speaking on Prime Time, an Arise Television programm, Sowore decried what he described as double standards in the handling of protests by the Nigerian police.

According to him, the security operatives attacked protesters because they chose a peaceful and lawful approach to demand the release of the detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

“Police attacked us because we were peaceful protesters. If we were bandits, they would not come near us,” Sowore said.

The activist, who organised the nationwide protest, revealed that thousands of Nigerians gathered across six different locations in the Federal Capital Territory, including Utako, Gudu, Apo, and the FCT Police Command, where security operatives reportedly fired tear gas canisters at demonstrators.

“We were tear-gassed ruthlessly. The protest was not just online; it was physically massive across Abuja,” he explained.

Sowore further expressed disappointment at the government’s intolerance for peaceful dissent, noting that despite adopting a non-violent approach, the protesters were treated as criminals.

“Fortunately, we have chosen a no-violence approach to resolving issues, but a generation will come that will not accept this nonsense,” he warned.

The #FreeNnamdiKanu protest was organised to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention since 2021 despite several court rulings ordering his release.