JUST IN: Court Grants Sowore, Other Activists Accused Of Unlawful Assembly N20m Bail

Omoleye Sowore, the Publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener of “Revolution Now” Movement, has been granted bail.

BIGPEN understands Sowore was granted bail on a Monday morning by a magistrate court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.

The bail sum stood at N20 million.

Sowore, Peter Williams, Sanyaolu Juwon, Emmanuel Bulus and Damilare Adenola were arrested on New Year’s eve during a protest led by Sowore.

The police had arraigned the five persons last Monday on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and incitement.

Mabel Segun-Bello, the magistrate, had ordered that they be remanded at the Kuje correctional centre.

But last Tuesday, they were transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) after Sowore reported that they were denied access to their healthcare, food, and water.

Marshal Abubakar, counsel to the defendant, while moving the application for bail, asked the court to grant bail to his clients “on self recognizance or in the alternative, grant bail in the most liberal terms”.

The ruling which was scheduled for Friday was stalled owing to the failure of the police to produce the defendants in court.

Sowore is a fierce critic of Nigeria’s political economy in general and President Muhammadu Buhari in particular.

He has called for a “revolution” and organized peaceful protests across the nation. Some critics see his use of “revolution” as evidence that he is trying to overthrow the government extralegally, though his protests have been peaceful.

He is at present charged with “treason” and had been out on bail following his previous arrest; one of the conditions was that he could not leave Abuja.

Just before New Year’s he was calling for nationwide “crossover protests” against bad government, the Lekki massacre, and other human rights grievances.

In Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa, opposition to a government may be construed as treason.