Amnesty International has asked for the release of Imran Wakili. He was detained over social media posts that criticized photos from the recent launch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign in Kaduna State.
In a statement posted on its X account on Tuesday, the group said Mr Wakili was targeted because of his strong support for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
"Detaining Mr Wakili just for expressing his opinion is unacceptable and shows disrespect for the law," the statement said. "International human rights law states that just because a social media post is not liked by those in power, it does not justify the police detaining someone without reason."
The APC launched its presidential campaign in Kaduna on 24 October. This event caused some controversy over how many supporters actually showed up.
Mr Wakili added his voice by suggesting on X that the images from the event were edited to make it look like more supporters attended than actually did.
Others, like Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), also raised doubts about the crowd size. Atiku claimed that some of the supporters were brought in from other states.
Amnesty International reported that Mr Wakili was tracked down by heavily armed police to his home in Karu, Abuja, on 29 October.
"A heavily armed team of policemen stormed the estate where he lives at around 4:30 p.m. and asked the security staff to show them Mr Wakili's apartment," the group's statement said.
Although the police did not find Mr Wakili at home, they arrested his younger brother and the estate manager to get him.
The group did not give details about how Mr Wakili was finally arrested.
Amnesty condemned the police for detaining him without proper cause and called on the Nigerian government to stop attacking human rights.
They said punishing Mr Wakili for his dissenting comments shows a lack of respect for the law.
"Mr Wakili is at risk of being mistreated, as he has been denied access to his family and a lawyer, showing total disregard for the law.
"Mr Wakili did not commit any crime, and his wrongful detention shows abuse of power. He has the right to express his critical views on public issues.
"The government of President Bola Tinubu must stop these ongoing attacks on human rights."
The authorities have not yet said anything about Mr Wakili's arrest.
Mr Wakili is known to support former Governor El-Rufai, who is a political opponent of President Tinubu and is facing several charges in Kaduna and Abuja.
His arrest reminds people of how the Kaduna State police arrested Farida Isiak over a N100 dispute with her mother and a neighbor.
After the disagreement, the neighbor brought police officers who arrested Ms Isiak's mother. When Ms Isiak heard about her mother’s arrest, she took to Facebook to criticize the police.
The police then detained her father to try to get Ms Isiak.
These two cases highlight the growing worries about threats and limits on free speech in Nigeria.
In July, a report by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) noted 245 cases of violations of civic space in 2025, with state actors involved in 219 of those cases.
The report found that the Nigeria Police Force was involved in 118 out of the 219 incidents involving state actors.
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