Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 election, was released shortly after his arrest.
He was detained on Sunday morning at Murtala Muhammad International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State, shortly after arriving from the USA. Sowore stated, “Upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was taken, and I was informed they had orders to detain me.
“I anticipated this situation, as it is part of the broader crackdown by the @officialAbat regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober protests.
“If this leads to another extended detention, I call on our citizens to resist tyranny by all necessary and acceptable means, participating in the planned direct actions set for October 1 and beyond.”
Sowore’s flight departed from Washington Dulles International Airport at 6:14 AM EDT and landed in Lagos around 9:43 AM. A leaked memo from the DSS dated September 12, 2024, indicated that Sowore was to be arrested upon his return to Nigeria.
However, he later posted on his official X account that he had been released by the Nigerian Immigration Service, along with the return of his passport. He stated, “I have just been released by the Nigerian Immigration after a brief detention, and my passport has been returned to me.”
