Court Grants Sowore, Nnamdi Kanu’s Lawyer, Brother, Others ₦500,000 Bail Each

An Abuja Magistrate Court has granted bail to rights activist and publisher of SaharaReporters online newspaper, Omoyele Sowore, alongside several protesters arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory. FCT.

 Others granted bail by the court sitting in Kuje, Abuja, included Counsel to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB,

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu; Aloy Ejimakor, his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, Joshua Emmanuel, Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, Godwill Obioma, and Chima Onuchukwu.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d gave the bail order on Friday after the arraignment of the defendants on charges bordering on unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.

According to the ruling, the court granted Sowore and the other protesters bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each, subject to the condition that they present a verified National Identification Number, NIN.

Magistrate Sai’I’d, also directed the defendants to present their three-year tax clearance certificates and submit their passports as part of the bail conditions.

Sowore was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja.

His arrest, which was captured in videos that circulated online, drew widespread criticism from civil society organisations and human rights groups who described it as another attempt to suppress dissent and silence activism.