By Muhammed Balami
…A closer look at the gap between Sowore’s public claims and verifiable facts, and what it reveals about trust, manipulation, and public opinion.
In the age of viral clips and hashtag outrage, it does not take much for a well-staged scene to whip up public sentiment. Unfortunately, the recent detention of Omoyele Sowore by the Nigeria Police Force Monitoring Unit at Force Headquarters, Abuja, on August 6th of August, 2025, is a case study in how carefully crafted theatrics can mislead the public, tarnish institutions, and weaponize sympathy.
The detention, which arose from a petition alleging cyberstalking, defamation, and related offenses, quickly became a social media circus. At the heart of this drama was an image that surfaced online of Sowore with a heavily bandaged right hand. This image instantly became the rallying point for his supporters, who spun it as irrefutable evidence of police brutality. Outrage followed, with many lambasting the police even before verifying the facts.
Yet, while in detention, Sowore himself revealed in videos that he had refused medical treatment offered by the police, not because it was unavailable, but simply because it was a nurse, and not a doctor, who attended to him. This excuse is not only laughable but also insulting to the intelligence of Nigerians. Nurses are trained medical professionals who, in emergencies, are often the first point of treatment worldwide. In fact, contrary to his claims, the Police clarified in an official statement that the medical team was led by the Force Medical Officer – a senior professional equivalent to a Director, whose services he flatly refused. For someone who claimed to be “writhing in pain,” rejecting qualified medical care on such flimsy grounds makes little sense, unless there was actually no injuries.
The farce did not end there. Upon his release, another video emerged showing Sowore operating his mobile phone at the entrance of the IRT (Intelligence Response Team), with the same “injured hand” until someone reminded him of his supposed broken bone, prompting a sudden change in demeanor. The act was so thinly veiled that it could only fool those already predisposed to believe anything he says. And just yesterday, more videos surfaced showing him freely throwing the same hand about, without any bandages at all, at the entrance of the NYSC office in Maitama.
From a medical standpoint, the inconsistencies are glaring. According to orthopedic guidelines such as those of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, a simple wrist fracture in a healthy adult typically takes a minimum of six to eight weeks to heal, and that is with proper immobilization, follow-up care, and adherence to medical instructions. In adults over 50, like Sowore, healing time is often longer due to age-related bone density reduction. That means if he truly had a fracture from August 6, the idea that he would be tossing his hand about without protection within days is medically implausible.
Even more curious is his selective outrage. This is the same man who, during the July 21 protest, made much noise about his missing eyeglasses, a non-life-threatening inconvenience, yet he now appears oddly eager to move on from what he earlier insinuated was torture by the police. Given his long history of antagonism toward the Force, does anyone believe that if Sowore truly sustained a broken bone from police brutality, he would not have unleashed a barrage of lawsuits and international media campaigns by now?
What we are left with is a troubling pattern. Here is a man adept at exploiting trust, spinning half-truths, and staging narratives to rile up hatred against the police and manipulate public sentiment. Sowore thrives in the chaos he creates, and in an era where misinformation spreads faster than fact, such calculated deception is dangerous.
Trust is a fragile thing. In politics and activism, it should be earned through consistency, honesty, and evidence-based advocacy, not through theatrics and manipulation. Nigerians must be wary of those who treat their sympathies as pawns in a personal chess game. A society that allows itself to be swayed by the loudest victim-claimant without demanding proof risks making enemies of the wrong people and empowering those who prey on public goodwill.
Sowore’s recent antics should serve as a wake-up call. Not every cry of oppression is rooted in truth, and not every bandage hides a wound.
