Court Grants Bail to Sowore, Ejimakor, and 12 Others Arrested During #FreeNnamdiKanuNow Protest

By our Correspondent

A Magistrate Court sitting in Kuje, Abuja, has granted bail to human rights activist and publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, along with 13 others arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held in the Federal Capital Territory.

Those granted bail alongside Sowore include Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu; Kanu’s brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu; and 11 other protesters.

The bail ruling was delivered on Friday by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id, who presided over the case. The defendants were arraigned on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace.

In his ruling, the magistrate granted each of the defendants bail in the sum of ₦500,000, with a requirement to present a verified National Identification Number (NIN). They were also ordered to submit their three-year tax clearance certificates and international passports as part of the bail conditions.

Sowore was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force shortly after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The arrest, which was captured in viral videos, drew widespread condemnation from civil society organisations and human rights groups, who described it as another attempt to suppress dissent and silence activism.

Omoyele Sowore, a long-standing advocate of democracy and social justice, has remained a prominent figure in Nigeria’s civil rights movement for more than three decades.