The Socialist Workers League (SWL) condemns the arrest of Comrade Omoyele Sowore by the Nigerian state. What happened on the grounds at the Kuje Magistrate Court was not just a violation of Comrade Sowore’s fundamental human rights, but a continuation of the Nigerian state’s repressive attacks against the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protests organised by the Take It Back Movement.
The brutalisation of Sowore, a man whose cardinal crime is that he leads a movement that insists that all Nigerians must be treated with dignity, underscores the state’s disregard for the rights and liberties of the Nigerian people. It shows clearly that the APC regime of Mr. Bọlá Tinubu fears the dissenting voices of Nigerians who speak out loud against the economic, social and political violence it inflicts on us, using the police force as its preferred instrument of tyranny.
This deliberate and calculated tactic by the Tinubu regime to silence our voices, now and ahead of the 2027 general election, will be met with stiff resistance by the Nigerian people because the assault on Sowore and other #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protesters is an assault on the tens of millions of Nigerians with whom Sowore’s message resonates, and who dare to resist Tinubu’s tyranny by demanding a country governed by the people themselves, for the people , and not by a ruling class of the 1%ers,with brute force. It is an insult to the struggle we waged to defeat military dictatorship, a violation of fundamental civil and political rights won with such struggles, and a challenge to every citizen who still believes that Nigeria can be better.
We will not be intimidated by uniforms or silenced by batons. We will not retreat into fear or fold our arms while the constitution is trampled under the boots of rogue officers. We will organise. We will mobilise. We will resist.
If the state insists on ruling through violence, then it must be prepared to face the organised and unrelenting will of the people. We will flood the streets with our voices. We will occupy the spaces they try to control. We will turn every courtroom, every campus, and every market square into theatres of resistance.
This is not a moment for negotiation. It is a moment for revolution of conscience and courage. The kind of revolution that reclaims the soul of a people hijacked by cowards in uniform and their agbada-wearing masters in power.
We therefore demand the;
1. Immediate and unconditional release of Omoyele Sowore and other #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protesters
2. Immediate removal of CSP Ilyasu Barau and all officers involved in this act.
3. An independent investigation by the Police Service Commission, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission and credible civil society observers, into the repressive attacks against the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest by state security operatives.
4. An independent investigation by the Police Service Commission, in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission and credible civil society observers, into the attack at Kuje Magistrate Court, including the authenticity of the alleged remand order.
5. Prosecution and disciplinary action against all officers found culpable of assault, obstruction of justice, or subversion of the judicial process.
6. Protection of lawyers, journalists, and court users from intimidation and physical harm by state security agents.
7. Immediate public disclosure of any documents, orders, or directives allegedly used to justify this illegal detention.
8. Medical attention and reparations for Sowore and others assaulted in the course of this unlawful attack.
9. An end to the illegal and politically-motivated detention of Nnamdi Kanu in violation of several court orders.
Sgd
Jharmo TOWOLAWI
National Chairperson
Amara NWOSU
National Secretary
