By Paul Ebi
The Nigeria Police Force said it arrested the human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, for luring protesters into a restricted area to protest in contravention of an order of a court.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, said this during a media conference on Thursday in Abuja.
“Sowore has been arrested by the Nigeria Police Force, and the reason is that the 13 people that were arrested previously in connection to the “FreeNnadiKanu” protest gave their statements.
“From the statements, every one of them mentioned that one Sowore led them into the restricted area in contravention of the court order.
“So it would be most unfair to charge some people to court and leave the person that led them to commit the offence.
“And that’s why, in the spirit of fair play, and to ensure that justice is served, Sowore was arrested today,” he said.
According to the police spokesman, like the others too, Sowore will not spend up to 24 hours with the police because we will arraign him as soon as we wrap up his charges.
“In fact, if everything goes right, our plan is to ensure that he’s arraigned today,” he said.
Hundeyin said 13 suspects had earlier been arrested in connection to the protest for violating an order of a court restricting protest in some areas in Abuja.
He said eight of the suspects were arrested on Monday around the Transcorp area of Abuja, while five others were arrested around the Ministry of Finance.
According to him, they were arrested because they contravened the court order that restricted movements within those areas despite several warnings.
