In addition, the court ordered the government to pay the activist N1 million in aggravated damages.

The court declared the detention was unconstitutional in a ruling on Sowore’s fundamental rights lawsuits challenging his wrongful arrest at a Lagos hotel for calling for Nigerians to come to the streets and protest against terrible governance, insecurity, and corruption.

The plaintiff had on November 15, 2019, filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1407/2019 challenging the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, and attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for their illegal arrest and detention.

The activist, through his lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, asked the court to declare his unlawful detention by the DSS as “illegal and a gross violation of his fundamental right to liberty”.

He further requested that the court issue an order requiring the DSS to pay him N500 million in general and aggravated damages for the illegal infringement of his fundamental rights to life, dignity, fair hearing, health, freedom of movement, and association.