Court Grants Sowore N100m Bail, Associate N50m

The convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-defendant, Olawale Adebayo Bakare (aka Mandate), have been barred by Federal High Court in Abuja not to participate in any form of protest pending the conclusion of their trial.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu disclosed this on Friday, October 4, as part of the conditions attached to the bail granted Sowore (who also owns the online medium – Sahara Reporters) and Bakare, while ruling on their bail application.

The judge granted them bail, but with varied conditions. While Sowore got bail at N100million and two sureties in the same amount, Bakare was granted bail at N50m with a surety in the same amount.

The three sureties, the judge said, must be resident in Abuja and must have landed property in Abuja, with value estimated at the amount set for bail. The judge said the sureties must deposit the original title documents of the property with the court.

They sureties, the judge added, are to show evidence of tax payment for three years – 2014 to 2016.Justice Ojukwu, who equally ordered the defendants to submit their international passports to the court, said they must not travel outside the country without the court’s permission.

The defendants were arraigned before the court on September 30, 2019 on a seven-count charge in which they were, among others, accused of plotting to remove the president and destabilize the country, a charge to which they denied by pleading not guilty.

After they pleaded to the charge, Justice Ojukwu ordered them to file formal bail applications, directed that they be kept in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) and fixed October 4, 2019 for the hearing of the bail applications.

At the resumption of proceedings, Femi Falana (SAN), who led the defendants’ legal team and Hassan Liman (SAN), who led the team of lawyers for the prosecution, argued for and against the single bail application filed by the defendants.

On the bail application, Falana faulted the prosecution’s claim that the defendants will jump bail because the first defendant (Sowore) was resident in America.

He argued that such claim was not tenable and noted the 1st defendant was a candidate in the February 23. 2019 presidential election.

Falana also faulted the charge of treasonable felony brought against the defendants, contending that the word, “Revolution,” has not been criminalised in the country. He noted that even the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, upon losing the presidential election in 2003, called for a revolution, but was not arrested by the state.

In also faulting the aspect of the charge, where the prosecution accused Sowore of insulting the president, Falana argued that the law did not allow a public officer to use the machinery of the state to “settle personal scores.”