BREAKING! Court Grants Sowore N10 Million Bail, Orders Passport Surrender

 

A Federal High Court has granted bail to Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, in the sum of ₦10 million with one surety of equivalent value. The trial judge, Justice Musa Liman, ordered that the surety be a responsible individual who owns landed property of the same value. The original property documents and a passport photograph must be submitted to the court registrar.

In addition, the court directed Sowore to surrender his international passport. Justice Liman gave Sowore 24 hours to meet the bail conditions, warning that failure to do so would result in his remand by the police until the conditions are fulfilled.

Sowore was invited by the police on January 27, 2025, for questioning at the Force Criminal Investigation Department. Although he was granted administrative bail, he rejected the conditions and remained in custody. Following his continued detention, the police filed a 16-count charge against him under the Cybercrime Act.

One of the charges alleges that on December 20, 2024, Sowore referred to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, as the “illegal IG of the Nigeria Police Force” in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account. Another count accuses him of sharing a picture of Egbetokun with the caption: “Mediocrity, incompetence, corruption, a country run by characterless people cannot make progress.”

Additionally, he is alleged to have written, “IGP Kayode Egbetokun will destroy the Nigeria Police if we don’t act now.” Sowore pleaded not guilty to all 16 charges.

The legal proceedings and continued developments are being closely followed by both supporters and critics of Sowore, with his case highlighting the ongoing tensions surrounding freedom of speech and expression in Nigeria.