A Magistrate Court sitting in Kuje, Abuja, has granted bail to human rights activist and publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, alongside several protesters arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory.
Also granted bail are Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu; his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu.
Others granted bail are Joshua Emmanuel, Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, Godwill Obioma, and Chima Onuchukwu.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’I’d issued the bail order on Friday after the defendants were arraigned on charges bordering on unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.
According to the ruling, the court granted Sowore and the other protesters bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each, subject to the condition that they present a verified National Identification Number (NIN).
The magistrate also directed the defendants to present their three-year tax clearance certificates and submit their passports as part of the bail conditions.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja.
His arrest, which was captured in videos that circulated online, drew widespread criticism from civil society organisations and human rights groups who described it as another attempt to suppress dissent and silence activism.
