Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the arrest of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore and other #FreeNnamdiKanu protesters, describing it as an assault on democracy.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Abubakar decried the arrest as symbolic of the Tinubu-led administration’s contempt for the rule of law.

“Sowore’s arrest inside a courtroom is a new low, an open assault on democracy, and a grave symbol of this administration’s contempt for the rule of law.

“The arrest of other peaceful protesters across the country only deepens the stain. Protest is not a crime; it is a constitutional right,” the politician wrote on X.

The police on Thursday morning arrested Mr Sowore at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, days after the activist led the #FreeNnamdiKanu protest that shut down the country’s capital.

The activist’s arrest comes days after Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, Emmanuel Kanu, and several other protesters were arrested and remanded in Kuje Prison.

Mr Abubakar, who expressed shock and disappointment over the development, accused Mr Tinubu’s administration of treating dissent as a crime.

He stated, “I am shocked and disappointed, but not surprised. Shocked that in 2025, decades after we defeated military rule, this government still treats dissent as a crime.

“Disappointed because those in power today once thrived on protests. But not surprised, for Bola Tinubu continues to show Nigerians exactly who he is and what he intends to be, if we allow him.”

While insisting democracy would not thrive under tyranny, the politician demanded “immediate and unconditional release of Mr Sowore and all those arrested during and after the protest.”