The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out the treasonable felony charges filed against the Convener of #RevolutuionNow, Omoyele Sowore and his co- defendant.
The Sahara Reporters publisher and his comrade, Olawale Bakare, were charged over their August 2019 #RevolutionNow protest during President Muhammadu Buhari administration
The court struck out the charges on Monday following the application of notice of discontinuance filed by the Nigerian government through the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
At the resumed sitting, lawyer, who represented the AGF in court A.R. Tahir, drew the attention of the trial judge to the notice of discontinuance on Monday, citing section 174 (1) (c) of the Nigerian constitution and section 107 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 as the basis for the power exercised by the AGF in withdrawing the charges.
Confirming it, the defence counsel, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the notice of discontinuance was served on him by the office of the AGF.
He then urged the court to dismiss the charges and order the State Security Service (SSS) to return all items seized from Mr Sowore and Bakare, when they were arrested in 2019.
Sowore, according to him has suffered persecution at the hands of the government over allegations that could not be proven.
Falana, who had earlier warned the court to dismiss the charges for want of diligent prosecution added: “The matter ought to be dismissed. However, I wish to appreciate the position of Mr Lateef Fagbemi for taking a hint from this honourable court during the last adjournment that this matter will be dismissed, and the Attorney General borrowed a leaf from it,” he added.
“My Lord, since all is well, I won’t be asking for costs since my clients have been standing trial since 2019. My Lord, in view of this, we want the court to return the telephone and the sum of 10,000 and his international passport, as the title bill submitted for his bail,”
