The Nigeria Police Force on Saturday transferred the female activist, Abiodun Olamide Thomas, who was “abducted” from her home in Lagos State by lawless police personnel to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja.
A human rights advocacy organisation, the Take-It-Back Movement (TIB) which made this known in a post on its social media handle said that Thomas was transported by illegally constituted Nigeria Police Force Courier Service to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport en-route Abuja.
The organisation said that the activist was moved to Abuja to face an illegal trial “sponsored by President Bola Tinubu through FPRO, Olumuyiwa Adejobi and the IGP.”
TIB while reiterating its demand for immediate and unconditional release of Thomas wrote, “Human rights activist Olamide Thomas abducted by Nigerian police is now unlawfully flown to FCID Abuja!
“We condemn this blatant disregard for human rights & demand her immediate release!”
SaharaReporters had reported that there was a plot by the Nigeria Police Force to transfer Thomas who was illegally arrested by police operatives on Friday in Lagos State to the Force headquarters Abuja.
SaharaReporters had gathered that Thomas, also known as Horlarmidey Africano, who was arrested on the directive of the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, for her critical comment on police excesses of which she had been a victim of is currently being held at the Lagos State Police Command.
Sources had told SaharaReporters that SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the state command’s spokesperson, had told some close friends that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, is interested in the activist’s case and “wouldn’t take it easy with her.”
“I think they (police in Lagos) are planning to transfer her to Abuja at any moment. They want to inflict her with psychological trauma because Hundeyin said the IG won’t be taking it lightly with her. She may likely be transferred to Abuja tomorrow,” a source had said.
SaharaReporters had reported on Friday that the Nigeria Police Force arrested Thomas for criticising the excesses of the operatives of the Force.
On November 8, it was reported that she raised concerns about her safety, alleging that ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Police Public Relations Officer, was targeting her.
SaharaReporters, however, gathered on Friday that she was “abducted” in the early hours on Friday in Lagos.
According to sources, the police first arrested her brother on Thursday and used him to track her this morning where she was abducted in her house around Somolu area of Lagos and taken to Alade police station.
One of the sources told SaharaReporters on Friday that the daughter used her phone to send a distress message to the Take-It-Back Movement (TIB) loop.
In November, Thomas told SaharaReporters that she hadn’t committed any crime, other than participating in the #EndSARS memorial struggle held on October 20, 2024, during which she was brutalised, her money stolen at the police custody and her phone destroyed.
According to her, she had always condemned police brutality, adding “I have always picked hole or punched any posts or comments by Muyiwa especially when he releases press statements about protests or protesters, laced with lies and propaganda. So, he might have been looking for an opportunity to pick me up.
“He has deployed men of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), a special tactical squad of the Nigeria Police Force to hunt for me anywhere,” the activist said.
Meanwhile, efforts by SaharaReporters to speak with ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi were unsuccessful as he did not take his calls as of the time of filing this report.