Human rights activist and #FreeNnamdiKanuNow campaigner, Omoyele Sowore, was re-arrested by police officers on Friday, shortly after being granted bail by the Kuje Magistrate Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Gatekeepers News reports that Sowore, along with Prince Emmanuel Kanu (brother of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu), lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, and ten others, had been granted bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id. The court also required two sureties residing in the FCT with valid identification and three-year tax clearances, and ordered the defendants to submit their international passports.
The group had been arraigned on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace following their arrest during Thursday’s protest calling for Kanu’s release.
Although all defendants reportedly met their bail conditions, Sowore was re-arrested moments after leaving court and taken away by police officers to Kuje Prison. He is expected to be arraigned again on Monday, October 27.
Background to the Case
In late August, Sowore drew government attention after a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he criticised President Bola Tinubu’s statements during a trip to Brazil, calling him a “criminal” and accusing him of lying about corruption under his administration.
“This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is NO MORE corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”
he wrote.
On September 8, the Department of State Services (DSS) filed a five-count charge against Sowore for allegedly publishing false and inciting statements against the President on social media. The agency accused him of making “criminal and derogatory remarks” capable of inciting public disorder and disunity.
After Sowore refused to delete the post despite a one-week ultimatum from the DSS, the agency filed charges at the Federal High Court, Abuja, listing X Corp and Meta Inc. (Facebook’s parent company) as co-defendants for failing to remove his accounts.
According to the charge sheet, Sowore is accused of violating Sections 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and Sections 375 and 59 of the Criminal Code Act by publishing false information intended to cause public unrest.
Sowore’s Response and Counter-Suit
Sowore, through his lawyer Tope Temokun, has filed two fundamental rights suits against the DSS, Meta Inc., and X Corp, arguing that the government’s actions amount to “unconstitutional censorship.”
Temokun said:
“If state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe. Censorship of political criticism is alien to democracy.”
The suits seek a declaration that the DSS has no legal power to censor Nigerians online and that Meta and X cannot serve as “tools of repression.”
Sowore was last seen at the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 30, when he appeared for arraignment on the five-count charge alongside X Corp and Meta Inc.
