UPDATED: Again, police's planned arraignment of Sowore stalls

The planned arraignment of activist Omoyele Sowore by the police on forgery charges stalled again on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

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Judge Emeka Nwite adjourned the case to rule on the preliminary objections by the defence citing alleged legal defects in the charges.

The defence argued that with the defects in the charges, the arraignment could not take place.

Part of the alleged flaws in the case, according to the defence, is charging Sahara Reporters, listed as the second defendant, when it is not a legal entity or corporate body in Nigeria.

Sahara Reporters’ lawyer, Temitope Temokun, told the court that since the media organisation was not a legal entity or corporate body, it cannot be arraigned in Nigeria. “You cannot place something on nothing.”

He maintained that unless the prosecution proved that Sahara Reporters is a recognised legal entity, the plea could not proceed.

Similarly, Mr Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, argued that the charges were incompetent. He told the court that, under the Police Act, a police officer was not permitted to institute proceedings against any person using the influence of their office.

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He added that Mr Sowore could not be arraigned on defective charges, as the matter arose solely from protests his client had carried out against the police.

However, the prosecution lawyer, Wisdom Madaki, cited Section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), insisting that Mr Sowore and Sahara Reporters should take their plea before raising any preliminary objection.

Meanwhile, the judge said he needed time to review the arguments.

He then adjourned the case until 23 October.

The planned arraignment has now been stalled two times in a row.

It first failed on 27 August due to the inability to serve the charges on the United States-incorporated Sahara Reporters.

The charges

The Nigerian police filed three charges against Mr Sowore and Sahara Reporters. The first charge accused them of conspiring to commit a felony by forgery on 30 July, contrary to Section 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.

The second count alleged that they forged a police wireless message purportedly signed by the Principal Staff Officer to the Inspector-General of Police, also in violation of the same law.

The third count accused Mr Sowore of posting a fake police signal and other inciting materials on his Facebook page on 31 July, with the intent to provoke members of the police force and the public to mutiny against the federal government, an offence punishable under Section 114 of the Penal Code Law.

Sowore versus police

Mr Sowore, a Nigerian activist, former presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters, has faced repeated arrests, detentions and charges from the police and the State Security Service (SSS) over the years.

He is a fiery critic of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, whom he repeatedly refers to as an illegal IGP. This followed the tenure extension granted Mr Egbetokun last year through a controversial amendment to the Police Act.

Mr Sowore has not desisted from referring to Mr Egbetokun as ‘Illegal IGP’ despite the charges the police filed against him in January over the claim.

He accuses the IGP of incompetence, favouritism, and ineptitude. The police have consistently denied the allegations.

READ ALSO: SSS says Facebook could be held criminally liable for Sowore’s criticism of Tinubu

The current case arose from Mr Sowore’s social media posts in July, which the police alleged included forged police communications and inciting materials aimed at provoking the police and the public against the federal government.

Before charging him, the police detained him in July for days before releasing him.

Mr Sowore alleged that police officers harmed his right wrist in custody, although the police denied the allegation.

He described the arrest, which came on the heels of his active participation in the protest staged by retired police officers against poor pensions, as politically motivated.

The Nigerian police subsequently filed three charges against Mr Sowore and Sahara Reporters.

A day before the arraignment, the judge, in a separate case, ordered six banks and financial platforms to release Mr Sowore’s account details and statements to the police. The Nigerian police requested the information for an ongoing investigation into what they touted as terrorism financing and money laundering allegations against Mr Sowore.