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The Nigerian police have charged Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), with cybercrimes and are set to arraignment him on Wednesday.
They will arraign him on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where they filed the charges on Tuesday.
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A copy of the indictment seen by PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday night contains 17 counts of cybercrime offences.
The charges centre around Mr Sowore’s description of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP” in a video clip Mr Sowore shared on social media.
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Mr Egbetokun, who was expected to have exited service having attained the statutory retirement age of 60 years in September 2024, secured an extended stay in office following a controversial alteration to the Nigeria Police Act passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Tinubu.
The alteration allowed Mr Egbetokun to stay in office for up to four years as Nigeria’s police chief.
The police alleged in the indictment filed on Tuesday that Mr Sowore knew that the description of Mr Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP” was false, but knowingly made the claim to cause a “breakdown of law and order”.
They alleged that the act constituted an offence contrary to section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) Act, 2015 as amended (2024) and punishable under section 24(2)(c) (ii) of the same Act.
‘Ridiculous charges’
Mr Sowore, who has been detained by the police in Abuja since Monday when he honoued a police invitation, described the charges as ridiculous.
“These have to be some of the most ridiculous charges ever filed by Nigerian law enforcement agents. Omoyele Sowore to face charges for calling retired and fired IGP Kayode Egbetokun ‘Illegal IGP’,” Mr ,Sowore in a message he circulated via his Whatsapp line on Tuesday.
Mr Sowore also mocked the charges in a Faceboook post, portraying blunders in the filling as justifying his accusation that Mr Egbetokun was incompetent.
“Sowore claimed IG of Nigeria Police Force, KAYODE Egbetokun, was illegal and incompetent, then he quickly moved to court to file charges for cybercrime, with incorrect spellings of Sowore’s 1st name and wrong spelling of ‘incite’.” Mr Sowore wrote on Facebook Tuesday night.
A review of the charges by PREMIUM TIMES shows that Mr Sowore’s first name was misspelt as “Omoleye” instead of “Omoyele” across the 17 counts.
The activist was invited for questioning by the police over a video clip he uploaded on social media alleging extortion by officers at a checkpoint in Lagos.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Sowore honoured a police invitation at the Force Intelligence Department (FID) complex of the Nigerian police in Abuja on Monday.
Take It Back movement announces protest
The Mr Sowore-led Take It Back Movement (TIB), through its national coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, announced on Tuesday a protest in Abuja, Lagos, and other parts of Nigeria on Wednesday in demand for Mr Sowore’s freedom and fair hearing in court.
“Now that they will be arraigning him in court tomorrow, we will be shutting down the country in protest for his reasons. We’ll be protesting in Abuja and other parts of the country from tomorrow until we get justice for Sowore,” Mr Sanyaolu said.
Earlier on Tuesday, members of the group protested at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, demanding the release of Mr Sowore.
The protesters led by Mr Sanyaolu arrived at the Lagos police headquarters at about 11 am, carrying placards with various inscriptions such as “Free Sowore,” “Stop Harassment of Citizens on Nigerian Roads,” and “End Police Brutality and Extortion.”
Mr Sowore was detained by the police in Abuja Monday night after he honoured an invitation by the police over his exposé on police officers allegedly extorting motorists along Ikeja in Lagos State.
His detention on Monday followed his refusal to accept stringent bail conditions imposed on him after interrogation.
Mr Sowore Monday night announced on social media that the police were holding him in custody until further notice, following his “refusal to accept their illegal bail condition”.
Read some of the charges
Count 1: “That you, OMOLEYE SOWORE, that on the 13th day of December, 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did intentionally and knowingly send messages through your verified X handle account “Omoyele Sowore” and cause a publication against the Inspector General of Police where you called him “…illegal IGP Kayode Egbetokun” which you know to be false, for the purpose of causing breakdown of law and order and you caused the message to be sent and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) Act, 2015 as Amended (2024) and punishable under section 24(2)(c) (ii) of the same Act.
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Count 2: “That you, OMOLEYE SOWORE, that on the 13th day of December, 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did intentionally and knowingly cause the transmission of messages through your verified X handle account “Omoyele Sowore” links and cause a publication against the Inspector General of Police where you called him “…illegal IGP Kayode Egbetokun” which you know to be false and tagged the verified Nigeria Police Force X handle @policeNG, containing threats to insight the Nigerians against the Nigeria Police Force and harm it property or reputation of the Inspector General of Police or the Nigeria Police Force and thereby committed an offence and punishable under section 24(2)(c) (ii)of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) Act, 2015 as Amended 2024.
Count 3: “That you, OMOLEYE SOWORE, that on the 20th day of December, 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did intentionally and knowingly send messages through your verified X handle account “Omoyele Sowore” and cause a publication against the Inspector General of Police where you called him “The illegal IG of Nigeria Police Force, Kayode Egbetokun will make the next #ENDSARS inevitable! He is working tirelessly towards it. Just a matter of time #EgbetekunMustGo #Revolution” which you know to be false, for the purpose of causing breakdown of law and order and caused the message to be sent and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime(Prohibition, Prevention, section 24(2)(c) (i)of the same Act.”
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