Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has been released from Kuje Prison, Abuja after fulfilling his bail conditions.

Sowore confirmed his release in a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday. He wrote, “HAPPENING NOW: Leaving Kuje Prison in Abuja after being detained there illegally for four days. #FreeNnamdiKanuNow.”

The activist, alongside Aloy Ejimakor, Special Counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu; Kanu’s younger brother, Emmanuel Kanu; and 11 other protesters, were arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force last week during a #FreeNnamdiKanuNow demonstration in Abuja.

They were arraigned last Friday before a Magistrate Court in Kuje, Abuja, presided over by Magistrate Abubakar Sai’id, on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.

In his ruling, Magistrate Sai’id granted each of the 14 defendants bail in the sum of N500,000, with conditions including the presentation of a verified National Identification Number, submission of a three-year tax clearance certificate, and the deposit of their passports.

After meeting these conditions, Sowore and the other defendants were released from Kuje Prison on Monday. Sowore, after his release yesterday described the Nigeria Police Force as an “irresponsible organisation” that routinely takes laws into its own hands.

Speaking after regaining freedom alongside 12 others, including Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and his brother, Emmanuel Kanu, Sowore said the police acted outside their constitutional mandate by enforcing a court order in which they had vested interest.

“If a court gives an order and there’s a contravention of that order, you go back to the same court to complain to the judge. It’s not the job of the police to take it upon itself to enforce a court order that it has interest in,” Sowore said.

Sowore maintained that the police never served him or others with any restraining order before carrying out the arrest, accusing the security agency of deliberate impunity and disregard for due process.

“I can guarantee you that those court orders were never served on us. If you look at the schedule of the court order, it says serve them by Friday. No order was served,” Sowore insisted.

“Even if it was, our courts understand there are certain boundaries you cannot cross when it comes to fundamental human rights.”