Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has issued a nationwide call to action, mobilizing supporters to participate in a protest demanding the unconditional release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The protest, tagged #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, was planned to converge in Abuja on the morning of Monday, October 20. In public statements made on social media, Sowore welcomed participants and urged citizens to take to the streets in peaceful demonstration, saying, “Carry a sign, sing a song, make a statement!” He also shared a message that ambitiously targeted “one million people on the streets of Abuja.”
The planned demonstration comes in direct defiance of an interim injunction issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja. This order specifically restrained Sowore and other organizers from protesting in or around sensitive government areas, including the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly Complex, and the Court of Appeal.
Reacting to the court order, Sowore publicly questioned its legitimacy and accused law enforcement of applying a perceived double standard, specifically pointing out that the same restriction was not placed on those who had protested against Kanu’s release. He maintained that his legal team of 115 lawyers would challenge the order once formally served, but insisted that the October 20 protest would proceed as a peaceful and lawful march. Notably, the date of the protest coincides with the fifth anniversary of the #EndSARS protests.
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