Leading Senegalese opposition politician Ousmane Sonko was arrested on Friday, members of his party, a senior security official and a lawyer told AFP, although the precise reasons for the arrest were unconfirmed.

The firebrand politician and presidential candidate has faced a number of legal woes in recent years, which he claims are part of a plot to keep him out of politics.

Abdoulaye Tall, one of Sonko’s lawyers, told AFP that he had been arrested for “stealing a mobile phone” and “calling for insurrection”.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, Sonko had said on social media that security forces stationed outside his home had been filming him.