Amnesty International has condemned the detention of the human rights activist and ex-presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore as flagrant abuse of power, demanding his immediate release.

The rights organisation made the call in a statement on Thursday.

“Amnesty International just received a deeply disturbing report of the violent attempt by the police to forcibly drag activist Omoleye Sowore from his cell to ‘a court’ at 6:00am,” the statement said. “As a result, he sustained a severe injury on his left hand. Right now, he has been taken to an unknown location.”

While calling on the Nigerian authorities to call the police to order and halt any further physical harm on Mr Sowore, the civil society organisation said Mr Sowore must be immediately given adequate medical care.

“Attempting to drag Sowore to a judicial process without recourse to his lawyer is a flagrant disregard for the rule of law. The authorities have an obligation to respect and uphold due process of law,” Amnesty stated.

It urged the Nigerian authorities to listen to the grievances of critics instead of gagging them through abuse of power.

“The Nigerian authorities must release Sowore unconditionally and drop all bogus and politically motivated charges against him. The authorities should listen to critics instead of seeking to gag them through outright abuse of power,” it added.

Mr Sowore was detained by the police on Wednesday after honouring their invitation for questioning over allegations of forgery and inciting disturbance.

Rights activist and lawyer Deji Adeyanju condemned Mr Sowore’s detention as unlawful, accusing IGP Kayode Egbetokun of using public office to settle personal scores.