The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Thursday for ruling on the bail application filed by activist Omoyele Sowore, who faces cybercrime charges over his social media comments describing the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, as an “illegal IGP.”.
Trial judge Abdulla Liman announced the adjournment on Wednesday after hearing the bail application moved by Mr Sowore’s lawyer and opposed by the prosecution.
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Mr Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar from Falana & Falana Chambers, urged the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms, recognising his personality as a foremost human rights activist and former presidential candidate.
The lawyer said the defendant had been cooperating with the police, as he promptly submitted himself for interrogation despite being merely invited by the police via a WhatsApp message.
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Mr Abubakar further noted that the police had granted Mr Sowore administrative bail, stressing that the police considered him deserving of bail.
However, the prosecutor, Uddy Jonathan, opposed the bail application.
“We are urging the court to dismiss the bail application. Bail cannot be granted in a vacuum,” Mr Jonathan said.
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He added that should the court be inclined to grant bail to the defendant, “it should be on terms that ensure his appearance at trial until a judgement is reached in the case,” including compelling him to submit his passport to the court.
The trial judge subsequently adjourned the case till 1 p.m. on Thursday (30 January) to rule on the bail request.
Earlier in the proceedings, which started at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Mr Sowore pleaded not guilty to 17 cybercrime charges the police instituted against him for calling Mr Egbetokun an “illegal IGP” and describing him as incompetent on social media.
Before the activist entered his plea, his lawyer, Mr Abubakar, pointed out errors in the police indictment, including the misspelling of Mr Sowore’s first name as “Omoleye” instead of “Omoyele” in all 17 counts.
This prompted the police prosecutor to apply for the court’s permission to amend the charges to reflect Mr Sowore’s correct name.
Following the amendment, the charges were read to Mr Sowore, who pleaded not guilty to all counts.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the trial drew significant attention and prominent figures to the court in solidarity with Mr Sowore on Wednesday.
Among those present were a former senator, Shehu Sani; the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe; the Country Director of Action Aid, Andrew Mamedu; and his predecessor, Ene Obi.
Also, some Nigerian youths and members of the Mr Sowore-led Take It Back Movement (TIB) thronged the court to support the human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).
Charges
The Nigerian police charged Mr Sowore on Tuesday with 17 counts of cybercrime offences for referring to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, as “illegal IGP” in a post on his social media platforms.
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 that Mr Sowore knew that the description of Mr Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP” on his X page was false but knowingly made the claim to cause a “breakdown of law and order”.
The indictment also includes an allegation that Mr Sowore captioned Mr Egbetokun’s picture: “Mediocrity, incompetence, corruption, a country run by characterless people cannot make progress.”
According to the police, acts 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.
Mr Sowore, detained after honouring a police invitation on Monday, 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 said in a message he circulated via Whatsapp on Tuesday.
Mr Sowore also mocked the charges in a Facebook post, portraying blunders in the filing 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 police also wrote “insight” where they intended to write “incite”.
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.
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