(Exclusive): “DSS Solitary Confinement My Worst Prison Experience” – Sowore Reflects on Political Struggles

Human rights activist and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has identified his five-month solitary confinement at the Department of State Service facility in 2019 as his worst prison experience since he began activism.

He made this disclosure during an exclusive interview with AF24News’ Olabisi Deji-Folutile, Ph.D., on Thursday in Lagos.

Recall that the Nigerian Department of State Services (DSS) arrested Sowore at his Lagos residence on the 3rd of August, 2019, at about 1.25 am after he called for nationwide protests as part of the #RevolutionNow movement he started. In response to outcries from within and outside the country, at the time, the Nigerian authorities later revealed that the activist was apprehended for reasons related to treason and money laundering felonies.

Describing the experience as “psychologically damaging,” Sowore stated that the solitary confinement “messed with his thinking faculty after a while.” Furthermore, he added that, “Although there were some nights that felt like hell at the numerous police stations, nothing came close to being locked up unjustly for a long time in solitary confinement.”

He said, “Most of my experiences have always been limited to the police stations. My first official prison experience was in Kuje prison. I first went there in 2021 before returning last year. Before then, I had previously spent five months, in 2019, in the DSS solitary confinement. Last year, 2025, I was arrested and detained about five times by the Nigerian Police. I am yet to be arrested this year, though. My worst experience has to be the 2019 DSS solitary confinement. It hit me at some point, psychologically. It got to a point where it started messing with my thinking faculty. It was a very serious experience.”

“I have had quite a number of confrontations with the state, and they are largely political. As a matter of fact, all of my confrontations right from my days at the University of Lagos have been as a result of political issues, starting from oppression to highhandedness and others.  I just can’t stomach anomalies. It’s who I am. Yes, there are always consequences, but I have a coconut head, I guess.”

Setting his gaze on the future, Omoyele Sowore revealed that he is still committed to disrupting the system and is willing to partner with only well-meaning Nigerians who share the same vision as himself.