Justice Mohammed Umar of the federal high court in Abuja, on Thursday, March 12, threatened to revoke the bail of former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) party, Omoyele Sowore, and issue an arrest warrant against him over his absence from his ongoing cybercrime trial.
Sowore, who is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for making false claims against President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in posts made on his X and Facebook accounts, failed to appear in court alongside his entire legal team of approximately 30 lawyers.
The prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, told the court that he had confirmed from the court’s registry that a hearing notice was duly served on the defendant through his lawyers, just as the prosecution had also been served.
He added that the day’s proceedings were intended for the defence to conclude its cross-examination of the first prosecution witness.
Kehinde argued that there was no justification for the absence and urged the court to invoke sections 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, revoke Sowore’s bail, and issue a bench warrant for his immediate production in court.
Justice Umar, however, declined to immediately grant the application, noting that Sowore had consistently attended court since the trial commenced late last year and that past adjournments had been sought by both sides.
He granted the defendant the benefit of the doubt for his first absence but warned that failure to appear at the next hearing would prompt immediate action to revoke his bail and issue an arrest warrant.
The court adjourned the matter to March 16 for the continuation of trial and ordered that a further hearing notice be issued to the defence.
Comments