The police have arrested Olamide Abiodun Thomas, a nurse and human rights activist.
According to FIJ, Thomas Facebook friend was detained in November in a bid to get to her.
FIJ said she was arrested in Shomolu, Lagos State in the early hours of Friday.
A source claimed Muyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, ordered Thomas’ arrest.
Earlier, FIJ detailed how the police went after Lanre Shotunde, a businessman based in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as a placeholder for Thomas.
The Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the police arrested Shotunde in Abeokuta on November 6 and took him to the Sango Ota Police Station on the same day. They released him on bail on the night of November 7, but not without asking him to produce Thomas, whom he insisted he only knew online.
One month later, the police arrested her in Lagos.
As to why she was arrested, the police could not be reached for comments. Ben Hundeyin, the spokesperson for the Lagos police did not answer his calls on Friday afternoon and has not responded to the messages sent to him via SMS and WhatsApp.
However, there are speculations that Thomas may have been arrested in connection to some of her social media posts criticizing the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
When FIJ reported the manhunt launched after her in November, it was gathered that some policemen had been calling her for weeks. One of them had told her that someone had written a petition against her, but the details were withheld.
Thomas also issued a statement, claiming that the police were likely after her because of her role in the #EndSARS memorial and a video clip of Tunji Akinosi, a politician who was said to have assaulted her in 2023.
Omoyele Sowore, a human rights advocate and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), confirmed Thomas’ arrest via a post on his social media page.
“The PPRO of (the Nigeria) Police (Force), Muyiwa Adejobi, personally ordered the arrest of Olamide for her posts against police excesses in a WhatsApp group and on Facebook. This is completely unacceptable and will be resisted. The police must release her immediately,” Sowore wrote.
