BREAKING: Armed Nigeria Policemen Brutalise Sowore, Lawyers, Others

Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist, and his lawyers were attacked by armed officers stationed at the front gate of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Guzape, Abuja.

This happened on Monday, when Sowore went to the police station after the force said he had skipped bail.

Sowore was joined by his lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, and other solidarity campaigners when he arrived at the institution about 12:30 p.m.

Armed police officers stationed at the gate, however, attacked and assaulted them.

The activist had declared on social media that he would be visiting the defunct police Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit’s Commander in order to get the charges that they said had been filed against him by former House of Representatives member Ned Nwoko.

The activists, who had been chanting solidarity songs as they approached the gate, were brutally stopped when they got into a yelling war with Sowore, demanding that he beg his lawyers and supporters to return.

The officers beat the activist as he was about to explain to them that he was there to make himself available to the police in order to prove that he had not jumped bail and was not on the run as reported.

They took Sowore inside the facility and assaulted him along with other activists. During the process, some of the activists were also arrested.

Some lawyers and journalists who attempted to videotape the scene were also assaulted by the cops.

The situation also resulted in intermittent firing by police in the neighborhood as they attempted to disperse the gathering with force.

One of the protestors who accompanied Sowore to the police station was Deji Adeyanju. He, too, was abused.

Sowore has been taken into the institution as of the time of making this report.