By Remilekun Awokoya
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, on Sunday said he was briefly detained at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
He disclosed this in a post on his X handle (formerly Twitter) upon his arrival to Nigeria from the United States.
Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, said officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service seized his passport and told him that they had orders to detain him.
“I had just arrived in Nigeria from the USA to the MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me,” he said.
“This is not un expected because i have always known that It is part of the broader clampdown by the fascist @officialAbat regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober revolt.
“In case this becomes another prolonged and protracted detention, I urge our citizens to ensure they ALL stop tyranny by all means acceptable and necessary, by engaging in the planned series of direct actions slated for October 1st and beyond.
“I have just been released by the Nigerian Immigration after a brief detention and my passport released back to me.”
DETAINED BY THE @NigerianImmigration, my International passport confiscated.
I had just arrived in Nigeria from the USA to the MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me.
This is not un expected… pic.twitter.com/viwoPI1DX7
It is, however, unclear who ordered his detention but reports have it that Sowore was arrested by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS). At the time of filing this report, the DSS is yet to confirm or deny Sowore’s arrest by its operatives.