Tension as Police Abduct Nnamdi Kanu’s Brother, Lawyer, and Protesters During #FreeNnamdiKanuNow Demonstration
ABUJA – October 20, 2025
The ongoing protest calling for the immediate release of the unlawfully detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has taken a violent turn as security operatives reportedly opened fire and used tear gas to disperse peaceful gathering in Abuja.
In a series of posts shared on X (formerly Twitter), human rights activist and presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, who organized the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest, reported that officers of the Nigerian Police Force brutalized demonstrators and arrested key figures, including Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Kanu Meme, and his lawyer, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor.
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was abducted from Kenya in June 2021 in what has been widely condemned as an extraordinary rendition that violated international law and Nigeria’s own constitutional provisions. Following his abduction, multiple courts of competent jurisdiction, including the Court of Appeal in Abuja, discharged and acquitted him of all charges, ruling that his rendition was illegal and that his continued detention lacked legal basis. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also called for his immediate and unconditional release, directing the Nigerian government to compensate him for the violations of his rights.
However, despite these clear legal and international directives, the Nigerian government has persistently refused to obey the rulings, keeping Kanu in solitary confinement under the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), a move many see as a direct assault on the rule of law and a test of Nigeria’s commitment to justice and human rights.
“The @PoliceNG team deployed to brutalize #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protesters arrested Nnamdi Kanu’s brother, and his lawyer, @AloyEjimakor, as well as innocent bystanders. They were beaten and taken to the FCT command. The police must release them immediately,” Sowore wrote.
Barrister Ejimakor, Kanu’s lawyer, had earlier taken to X to remind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he holds the key to ending the protracted illegal trial.
“As it stands, it lies with President Tinubu to FREE Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because once the President halts the prosecution, the trial ends. In other words, the buck stops at the President’s table. Nonetheless, the courts can step in to stem the tide of injustice. #MNKOct20 is today,” Ejimakor tweeted shortly before his arrest.
A Facebook Live video obtained by Peoples Chronicles earlier in the day captured the tense atmosphere at the protest ground in Abuja. In the footage, Sowore, Prince Kanu Meme, religious leaders, and members of the “Take It Back Movement” were seen gathered in front of Transcorp Hilton Hotel awaiting other protesters before the Nigerian Joint Forces descended on the crowd. Gunfire and tear gas followed, sending people running for safety.
Despite the crackdown, demonstrators across Nigeria and in major cities abroad have vowed to continue their peaceful protest until justice is served. Protesters insist that Kanu’s prolonged detention and the violent repression of dissent reflect a broader pattern of “dehumanization and injustice” against Nigerians.
“We will not back down,” one protester said. “This is no longer just about Nnamdi Kanu; it is about every Nigerian facing oppression and injustice. The world is watching.”
The protest marks yet another flashpoint in the long-running controversy surrounding Kanu’s detention, which many rights groups, including Amnesty International, have described as unlawful and politically motivated.
As of press time, the Police Headquarters had not issued an official statement regarding the abduction or the alleged use of live ammunition and tear gas on peaceful protesters. However, pressure continues to mount both locally and internationally for President Tinubu’s administration to intervene and bring an end to what many have termed a growing assault on civil liberties in Nigeria.
