Justice Musa Liman of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has fixed ruling on Omoyele Sowore’s bail application until Thursday, January 30.
Persecondnews reports that Sowore is facing a 17-count charge bordering on cybercrime slammed on him by the Nigerian Police Force.
The judge’s decision came after listening to arguments from Mr. Marshall Abubakar, counsel to Sowore from Mr. Femi Falana’s chambers, and Mr. Udey Jonathan, counsel to the prosecution.
Persecondnews reports tha Sowore had earlier pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
According to the charges, the activist allegedly used his verified X handle, ‘Omoyele Sowore,’ to post a tweet referring to the Inspector General of Police as “illegal IGP Kayode Egbetokun.” The police claim the statement is false and intended to incite public disorder.
Justice Liman had initially scheduled the bail ruling for 3 p.m. when he stood down the case in the morning.
At the resumed hearing, Sowore’s counsel, Abubakar, urged the court to grant him bail on most lenient terms.
He said: “We have a motion on notice filed today, January 29, 2025.
“I ask you, my noble lord, to release the applicant on bail in the most liberal terms possible, pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
“The applicant has also filed a 16-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Sunday Agabi, and we rely on the arguments within. We urge your lordship to grant our application.”
Abubakar argued that the court has the discretion to grant Sowore bail, despite the complainant’s objections.
However, prosecution counsel, Mr. Udey Jonathan, opposed the application, urging the court to deny Sowore bail.
Udey said: “My lord, a counter-affidavit deposed to by one Friday Ameh, a police intelligence officer, has been filed against the bail application.
“We seek reliance on all paragraphs of our counter-affidavit and have filed a written address in support, dated January 29, 2025.
“We adopt the written address as our oral submission against the bail application and urge the honourable court to dismiss it.
“Bail cannot be handed out like candy; it should not be granted in vacuo. While bail is at the court’s discretion, it is not a state of grace.
“If the court decides to grant bail, it should impose stringent terms to ensure the defendant’s appearance for trial, including the submission of his international passport.”
Following arguments from both counsel, Liman reserved his ruling on Sowore’s bail application until Thursday at 1 pm.
Sowore will remain in police custody pending until Thursday.
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