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Nigerian government drops treason charges against Sowore over #RevolutionNow protest

Published

3 months ago

February 15, 2024

The Nigerian government has discontinued the trial of politician and media owner, Omoyele Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare (also known as Mandate).

A Notice of Discontinuance, signed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), was stamped by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The notice dated February 14, 2024, stated that the complainant the Federal Government of Nigeria, would discontinue the case.

The notice reads:

“By virtue of the power conferred on me under Section 174 (1) (c} of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Section 107 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN intend to discontinue charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/235/2019.

The development follows the recent threat by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to strike out the treason charge against Sowore if the government was not ready to proceed with the case, which has been ongoing for five years.

The court had adjourned the case to April 15, 2024, and the prosecution was warned to either produce the second defendant or proceed with the prosecution of the first defendant.

Sowore and Bakare were arraigned in 2019 before the Federal High Court in Abuja following his staging of a protest rally in Abuja which he tagged “Revolution Now.”

Sowore was a presidential candidate under the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 general elections.

Meanwhile, reacting to the development on his Twitter handle, Sowore said;

“Five years ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria commenced a fruitlessly malicious, tendencious and idiosyncratic treason trial (Persecution) against me and several other revolutionary comrades across Nigeria, we stood our ground and began a historic journey to liberate our country, despite threats, assassination of family members, state sponsored violence and targeted attacks by security forces, we promised never to back down.

“Today, we have been vindicated on one front, the Nigerian government has terminated its own case against me, but we will not terminate our struggle for justice and liberty of our compatriots. We warned the @MBuhari regime and those who followed his ruinous path that they will face ultimate disgrace before long. We salute our revolutionary comrades. #RevolutionNow.”