#RevolutionNow convener and the candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections, Omoyele Sowore, was on Friday denied access to the Supreme Court to witness the ruling on a suit filed by the detained leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, seeking his release from detention.
Sowore was denied access to the court premises by personnel of Nigeria’s secret police, Department of State Services (DSS).
In a video obtained by Sowore, the DSS personnel manning the entrance kept saying ‘No access for Sowore’, the moment they sighted him in his car.
The Supreme Court had fixed December 15 for ruling on Kanu’s suit demanding his release from the DSS detention where he has been held since June 2021 when former President Muhammadu Buhari-led government arrested him in Kenya and renditioned to Nigeria for trial for alleged treasonable felony and terrorism charges.
The Appeal Court had acquitted and discharged the IPOB leader and ordered his immediate and unconditional release but the Nigerian government continued to hold him in detention, prompting Kanu to file a suit at the Supreme Court demanding his release.
On Friday morning, Sowore said he was at the Supreme Court to attend the ruling but “unruly” officials of the DSS positioned at the court gate denied him access.
Posting a video of his encounter on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Sowore wrote, “I tried attending the Supreme Court ruling for #FreeNnamdiKanuNow this morning but was denied access by an unruly team of @OfficialDSSNG officers stationed at the gate of the #SupremeCourtofNigeria screaming #NoAccessforSowore.
“It was shameful and this tells that the persecution of Nnamdi Kanu is an @OfficialAPCNg official position. The regime of Bola Tinubu @officialABAT is in on it.”
In the video, two DSS officials walked up to Sowore in his car after identifying him and said, “No access for you. No access for Sowore,” to which Sowore asked, “Why?” But rather than give him a reason or an explanation, they ordered him to “move this car out of this place, move.”
One threatened to break his phone saying, “Don’t video me. I will break that phone now!”
