Human rights activist and politician, Omoyele Sowore has been granted N10 million bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja in the alleged cybercrime charges instituted against him by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
Justice Musa Liman granted him bail on Thursday with several conditions, including the requirement to deposit his international passport with the court.
Nairametrics previously reported on Wednesday that Sowore was arraigned before the court on a 16-count amended charge but pleaded not guilty to all charges filed by the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun.
On Monday, Sowore visited the Force Criminal Investigation Department to answer questions regarding his remarks against the IGP.
What transpired in previous court proceedings
- The police alleged that Sowore referred to Egbetokun as “the illegal IG of the Nigeria Police Force” on his X (formerly Twitter) page and captioned the IGP’s picture with: _“Mediocrity, incompetence, corruption, a country run by characterless people cannot make progress.”
- During the proceedings, Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, filed a motion dated January 29, 2025, seeking bail on liberal terms.
“Principally, we are asking for the release of the applicant on bail on self-recognition or the most liberal terms possible, pending the hearing and determination of the trial,” Abubakar said.
- Abubakar argued that the court has discretionary powers regarding bail applications.
- He stated that the defendant was invited by the police via a WhatsApp message, which he honored.
- He also noted that the police had previously granted Sowore administrative bail.
- However, the police counsel, M. Uddy Jonathan, opposed the bail application, presenting a counter-affidavit deposed by police intelligence officer Friday Ameh.
“We urge the court to dismiss the bail application. Bail cannot be granted in a vacuum,” he said.
- He added that if the court were inclined to grant bail, it should impose conditions that ensure Sowore’s continued appearance at trial.
- He also urged the court to mandate Sowore to deposit his international passport.
What the court said
Ruling on the bail application on Thursday, the judge stated that a person has the right to bail unless there are compelling reasons to deny it.
The judge noted that the police argued that Sowore had cronies within and outside Nigeria who could allegedly interfere with the trial.
However, the judge ruled that the police failed to prove how Sowore could intimidate high-ranking police officers who would testify in the case.
He further stated that the prosecution did not establish any link between Sowore and the purported cronies.
The judge concluded that the bail applicant deserves his personal liberty pending the outcome of the trial.
“If the applicant desires to jump bail, it is to his own peril,”the judge remarked, noting that the police had previously granted Sowore administrative bail.
“Bail is accordingly granted to the applicant in the sum of N10 million with one surety in like sum,”the judge ruled.
Additionally, the judge ordered that:
- The applicant must deposit his international passport with the court.
- The surety must be a responsible Nigerian citizen residing within the court’s jurisdiction.
- The surety must submit an affidavit of means and title documents of landed property in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which must be verified by the court registrar, along with a valid means of identification.
Following the ruling, Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, requested that his client be released to his legal team pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions within a few hours.
The judge granted Sowore a 24-hour extension to remain with his lawyers.
The case was adjourned to April 8, 2025.
Backstory
Recall that Sowore, the Convener of the #RevolutionNow protest, was invited by the police to answer questions regarding an alleged cybercrime against the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
- He, alongside his lawyers, honoured the police invitation on 27th January 2025 and was briefly held in custody.
- He was later granted administrative bail on the condition of providing a civil servant of a specific level as surety.
- However, he rejected the bail conditions and remained in custody, after which the police formally filed a 16-count charge of cybercrime against him, punishable under Section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
One of the charges states:
“That you, OMOYELE SOWORE, on the 13th day of December 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did intentionally and knowingly cause the transmission of messages through your verified X handle account, ‘Omoyele Sowore,’ wherein you linked and published a statement against the Inspector General of Police, referring to him as ‘…illegal IGP Kayode Egbetokun,’ which you knew to be false. You also tagged the verified Nigeria Police Force X handle @policeNG, containing threats to incite Nigerians against the Nigeria Police Force and to harm the property or reputation of the Inspector General of Police or the Nigeria Police Force. By so doing, you committed an offence punishable under Section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.”
Sowore, a former presidential candidate, has been a frontline critic of the government of the day and associated government institutions, citing alleged corruption.
- The Federal Government had, in 2019, arraigned and prosecuted Sowore and Bakare on an amended charge of treasonable felony in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/235/2019.
- The duo was alleged to have incited a revolution against the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
- However, they pleaded not guilty.
- The case dragged on with Sowore’s movements restricted to Abuja for some years, but the charges were eventually discontinued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Nairametrics recalls that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had, in early 2024, struck out the treasonable felony charges instituted against Omoyele Sowore and Olawale Bakare.
This follows the discontinuance of the treasonable felony charges against Sowore and Bakare, by the AGF.
