Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist, is being held because he declined to provide a statement, according to Abayomi Shogunle, the Special Intervention Squad’s commissioner of police.
According to The Intercept, Sowore, a former African Action Congress presidential candidate, is being held by the police after becoming the target of petitions.
Reactions to the revelation were mixed, with many demanding that he be released from detention right once.
Speaking to demonstrators and the media in Abuja on Friday, Abayomi said that Sowore’s arrest and custody were mandated because the activist reportedly refused to answer questions from the police.
The CP said there were two petitions against the activist in a video that Sahara Reporters transmitted from the Force Headquarters.
“The two petitions against Omoyele Sowore were shown to him right in my presence. One bordered on forgery of a police document, which he published online, and we all know the position of the law. It is your duty to provide a source of how you came about the forged document. The second petition has to do with cyberbullying.
“The two petitions were shown to him in the presence of his lawyers. The issue now is that he refused to make a statement in the presence of his lawyers. It is on record.
“And the procedure under the Nigerian law is very clear. When an allegation is made against you, you are called upon, you have a duty to put down your own position,” the CP said.
