Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) arrested Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother of imprisoned IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, and his lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, on Monday during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
Human rights activist and the organiser of the protest, Omoyele Sowore, broke the news of the arrests in a post on his X (previously known as Twitter) handle, indicating that police officials used live bullets and upped force against peaceful protesters calling for Kanu’s release.
@PoliceNG police who were deployed to brutalize #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protesters arrested Nnamdi Kanu’s brother and his lawyer, @AloyEjimakor, and innocent bystanders. They were assaulted and locked up at the FCT Command. The police should release them now.
Earlier today, LEADERSHIP had written that security agents discharged several rounds of tear gas to clear protesters who had clustered at the Central Business District, while commuters fled for their lives and increased the heavy traffic that paralyzed the country’s capital on Monday morning.
Other major roads into the city center were also sealed off, prompting public ire as hundreds of thousands of citizens were stuck in gridlock caused by the increased security presence.
In the meantime, the Nigeria Police Force previously issued warning against protests in areas of the capital city’s restricted areas. Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, also reasserted that a Federal High Court injunction forbids demonstrations around prominent government facilities, like the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way.
