Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, has claimed that he was detained by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) upon his arrival at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, following his return from the United States.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Sowore revealed that the NIS also confiscated his passport, stating that the agency informed him they were acting on 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,” Sowore wrote.
Sowore, who is also the founder of the online news platform Sahara Reporters, said the detention did not come as a surprise, attributing it to what he called a “broader clampdown” by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government on dissent.
He linked the incident to the government’s fear of an upcoming protest planned for October 1st.
“This is not unexpected because I have always known that it is part of the broader clampdown by the fascist Bola Ahmed Tinubu regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober revolt,” he said.
The Take-It-Back Movement, also spearheaded by Sowore, is organizing a series of direct action protests slated for October 1st. In his post, he urged citizens to resist tyranny by participating in the protests.
“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.”
Sowore initially reported that he had been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS), which was later picked up by several media outlets. However, the latest information points to the NIS as the agency responsible for his detention at the airport.