Nigerian Pharmacist Solomon Akuma, Who Was Jailed For Criticising Ex-President Buhari Completes NYSC Service
Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, who played a crucial role in drawing attention to Akuma’s plight, celebrated the development on his X (formerly Twitter) page, calling it a “triumph over the wicked Buhari regime.”
Solomon Akuma, a young Nigerian pharmacist who was imprisoned for nearly three years under the Muhammadu Buhari administration over a satirical tweet, has completed his mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, who played a crucial role in drawing attention to Akuma’s plight, celebrated the development on his X (formerly Twitter) page, calling it a “triumph over the wicked Buhari regime.”
According to Sowore, Akuma’s ordeal began after he posted a satirical tweet that the Buhari-led regime considered subversive.
He was arrested and thrown into prolonged detention without trial, spending 33 harrowing months behind bars, primarily incommunicado.
“I met Solomon during my visit to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) detention facility in Abuja in 2020, while I was checking on #EndSARS detainees including Moyinoluwa Olowoyo ‘Gigabyte’,” Sowore wrote.
He continued: “It was Babatunde Shola, who himself had earlier been arrested by the Jonathan regime for creating a parody account, who introduced me to Solomon’s case.”
Despite campaigns for his release and increasing public attention, Akuma remained in detention, enduring one of the darkest periods under the Buhari government’s clampdown on dissent.
Ironically, in January 2021, Sowore himself would be thrown into the same FCID detention, where he was held alongside Akuma for “conduct likely to breach public peace.”
By then, Sowore says, Akuma had become “the de facto president of the detention center,” a symbol of resilience among detainees.
Transferred from the FCID to Kuje Correctional Centre, Akuma’s life remained in danger. During the deadly Boko Haram prison break at Kuje in 2022, Akuma managed to briefly escape but astonishingly returned to the prison voluntarily after the terrorists had fled.
Sowore continued: “We actively campaigned for his Solomon Akuma’s release, soon as Shola was released, however, in an ironic turn of events, in January 2021, we found ourselves detained alongside him at the FCIID in Abuja, accused by the Buhari regime of conduct likely to breach public peace; by then, he had become the de facto president of the detention centre.
“However, in January 2023, he was exonerated by a three-member appellate court in Abuja. By then he had spent time under the looming danger of #COVID19 while in Nigeria Police Force @PoliceNG detention, when he was transferred to Kuje prison, Solomon survived a deadly prison break by Boko Haram, he briefly left the prison but opted to return when the terrorists left and he reached out to me.
“Undeterred, he summoned the courage to pursue his vision of becoming a prominent pharmacist, and then enrolled in the National Youth Service Corps @officialnyscng, and had his passing out parade on March 27th, 2025. His journey exemplifies fortitude and perseverance in face adversity.”
Solomon Akuma’s Triumph Over the Wicked Bubari Regime
Following a rigorous trial perpetrated by the wickedly @MBuhari regime, @SolomonAkuma spent 33 months in despondency, stripped of his freedom over a twitter bant he posted which the regime considered inimicall to its hold on… pic.twitter.com/Uji98yaASh
Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) April 5, 2025
