Sowore is also seeking declarations on the legality of the operation and other consequential orders.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has filed a ₦5 billion fundamental rights suit against the Department of State Services (DSS), its director-general, Tosin Ajayi, and two other defendants over a recent alleged assault.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2480/2026 and filed on Tuesday, Sowore is seeking damages over what he described as a brutal attack, abduction, and forcible removal from the Federal High Court in Abuja on 22 June 2026.
The publisher of SaharaReporters is challenging the actions of DSS operatives during the incident at the court on 22 June 2026.
He wants the court to declare the action illegal and unconstitutional, arguing that the operatives violated his rights to dignity and personal liberty.
Also joined in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and DSS Deputy Director Benjamin Bulus, whom Sowore accused of leading the operation.
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According to the court papers, the incident began after Justice Mohammed Garba Umar ordered that Sowore be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his application for a stay of execution of the order revoking his bail and the bench warrant issued against him.
Sowore said he was still waiting for officials of the correctional centre to take him into custody when armed DSS operatives stormed the fourth floor of the court building.
He alleged that the operatives, some of whom were hooded men and women, accosted and assaulted him before forcibly dragging him to the basement of the court complex against his will.
He is also seeking declarations on the legality of the operation and other consequential orders.
The statement further added that video footage recorded using Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses forms part of the evidence submitted for the court’s consideration.
