The Federal government on Thursday discontinue seven count charge bordering on treasonable felony and money laundering it brought against Omoyele Sowore the convener of #RevolutionNow protest in 2019.
Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi SAN filed the notice of discontinuance of the charges at the Federal High Court Abuja and served same on the defendants: Omoyele Sowore and Olawole Adebayo Bakare (A.K.A Mandate).
He discontinued the trial: “By virtue of powers conferred on me under section 174(1)(c) of Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. Section 107(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all others powers enabling me on that behalf”,
In the notice personally signed, the AGF further stated ” I Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi SAN intend to discontinue charge no FHC/ABJ/ CR/ 235/2019.”
Recall, that Sowore the convener of #RevolutionNow protest was arrested in the early hours of Saturday August 3, 2019 in a hotel in Lagos by men of the DSS on account of the #RevolutionNow protest which he had spearheaded.
He was consequently detained in custody of DSS on August 8 2019 on orders of a Federal High Court in Abuja for initial period of 45 days.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo now retired, in an exparte application ordered the DSS to keep Sowore for a period of 45 days to enable the agency conclude its investigation of alleged treason and terrorism against the defendant, who is also publisher of SaharaReporters online news medium
But barely 24 hours to the expiration of the detention order, the federal government filed the six count charge.
The charge which was signed on behalf of the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), by a Chief State Counsel, Aminu Alilu, in the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Justice, specifically accused Sowore and his co-defendant of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony in breach of section 516 of the Criminal Code Act by allegedly staging “a revolution campaign on September 5, 2019 aimed at removing the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The prosecution also had accused them of committing the actual offence of treasonable felony in breach of section, 4(1)(c) of the Criminal Code Act, by using the platform of Coalition for Revolution, in August 2019 in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, to stage the #RevolutionNow protest allegedly aimed at removing the President.
Sowore was further accused of cybercrime offences in violation of section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, by “knowingly sending messages by means of press interview granted on Arise Television network which you knew to be false for the purpose of causing insult, enmity, hatred and ill-will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
It also accused Sowore of money laundering offences in breach of section 15(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
Since 2019 the matter has not progress
even when it was reassigned to Justice
Emeka Nwite . Last November.when the matter came up justice Nwite warned over what he perceived to be a lack of preparation by the prosecution after the matter had been adjourned on several occasions on the instances of the prosecution.
Counsel for Mr Sowore, Marshall Abubakar, had told the court that he believed the prosecution was only trying to frustrate his client by its inability to serve the second defendant the hearing notice for him to appear in court.
Mr Abubakar further told the court that he had written a letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice asking that the charge be severed so that his client could take his plea and stand trial alone.
My lord, this is the fifth year since this charge was filed. The defendant has been denied access to his family since then because he has not been allowed to travel outside the country where his family lives.
“You cannot continually and perpetually hold the man under suspicion that he committed a crime and so we will apply that this case be struck out until the prosecution is ready to prosecute it,” Mr Abubakar had said.