Alleged Cybercrime: Sowore faces return to prison as court gives deadline to perfect bail conditions

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday gave Omoyele Sowore until the close of work to perfect the bail conditions granted to him last week, warning that failure to do so will result in his return to the Kuje Correctional Centre.

Sowore, an online publisher and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, is standing trial on cybercrime and defamation charges filed by the Department of State Services. The DSS alleges he called President Bola Tinubu a criminal on his X and Facebook accounts.

Justice Mohammed Umar had on Tuesday last week admitted Sowore to bail in the sum of N200 million following his application for a stay of execution of an earlier order revoking his bail.

As part of the conditions, the court ordered Sowore to deposit his international passport with the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

He was also directed to produce two sureties. One must be a traditional ruler from his community, while the other must own landed property in Abuja. The judge further ruled that both sureties must be verified by the prosecution.

When the matter came up for the continuation of trial on Monday, counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, informed the court that Sowore had not met any of the bail conditions.

Kehinde told the court that while the defendant was released to his lawyer to retrieve and deposit his passport, there had been no communication to that effect. He said the prosecution had also not been notified of any difficulty in meeting the conditions or of any application for variation.

The senior lawyer asked the court to issue an order remanding Sowore at Kuje Correctional Centre pending the fulfillment of the bail terms. He noted that the court had given sufficient time for the conditions to be met, but alleged that the period was instead used by Sowore to grant television interviews.

He argued that court orders must be obeyed and that the consequence of non-compliance is remand until compliance is achieved.

In response, Sowore’s counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, pleaded with the court for more time. He assured the judge that the international passport would be deposited before the close of work on Monday. He attributed the delay in retrieving the passport from the United States Embassy in Lagos to activities marking the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

After hearing both sides, Justice Umar granted the request and extended the deadline to the close of work on Monday. The judge said Sowore must meet all the bail conditions within that period or be taken back to Kuje Correctional Centre.

The matter was adjourned to Monday, July 13, for continuation of trial.