Omoyele Sowore’s life has been one of relentless activism and resistance against successive Nigerian regimes, military and civilian alike. From his early days as a student leader to his role as a pro-democracy advocate and media entrepreneur, Sowore has remained a consistent thorn in the side of the country’s political establishment.
Sowore’s activism began in the early 1990s while he was a student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). In 1992, during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, Sowore was expelled for leading student protests against military rule and rising tuition fees. His defiance made him a marked man.
A year later, in 1993, he was arrested by General Sani Abacha’s regime, which had taken power following the annulled June 12 election. By 1994, Sowore faced physical violence when cult gangs sponsored by the Abacha government attacked him on UNILAG campus. This incident led to his second expulsion. Rather than being protected, Sowore was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police for confronting cultists.
Sowore’s troubles did not end with the return to civil rule in 1999. In 1998, under General Abdulsalami Abubakar, he was again arrested—this time during the NUGA Games in Lagos, a period of heightened political sensitivity as Nigeria prepared to transition from military to civilian governance.
In 2006, under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Sowore came under legal fire again after he interviewed Gbenga Obasanjo and exposed the controversial third term agenda. Obasanjo and his then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, sued Sowore, demonstrating the extent to which power players feared media revelations.
In 2007, under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, SaharaReporters—Sowore’s investigative online media platform—was banned in Nigeria. The platform had become a vital outlet for whistleblowing and exposing corruption.
In 2014, during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, a presidential aide, attempted to bankrupt SaharaReporters by threatening a lawsuit in the United States. The effort fizzled out after Jonathan lost the 2015 election.
In 2017, Senate President Bukola Saraki sued Sowore for defamation. A Kwara State High Court issued what many critics described as a “kangaroo judgment,” which led to the freezing of SaharaReporters’ accounts for over a year.
Sowore’s most harrowing confrontation with state power came in 2019, when he was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) under President Muhammadu Buhari. He was charged with treason after calling for nationwide protests under the “#RevolutionNow” banner. He was abducted, detained, and placed under restrictive bail conditions. In 2021, his family tragedy was compounded when his younger brother was assassinated near Benin City—an act Sowore blamed on state-sponsored actors.
Under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the crackdown has continued. In 2023, Sowore was reportedly placed on the immigration watchlist. By 2025, he was arrested again by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, under controversial cybercrime allegations. His international passport was seized, further restricting his freedom.
In 2025, Sowore faced a new kind of attack—from online mobs. Supporters of Peter Obi, popularly called the “Obidients,” reportedly mass-reported Sowore’s Facebook account after he posted critical views about their candidate. The account was eventually taken down. Critics like human rights Lawyers, Inibehe Effiong, Deji Adeyanju argue that this move, though led by civilians, represents a dangerous slide toward digital authoritarianism.
Despite being targeted by virtually every administration from Babangida to Tinubu, Omoyele Sowore remains one of the few activists who has never compromised on his stance for truth, justice, and transparency. His story is one of rare consistency in a political landscape riddled with opportunism and betrayal.
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