Federal High Court warns Omoyele Sowore over bail, threatening revocation and arrest warrant if he misses his next trial date

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday threatened to revoke the bail granted politician and online publisher Omoyele Sowore in his ongoing trial on cybercrime-related charges.

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Justice Mohammed Umar warned that an arrest warrant would be issued should Sowore fail to attend the next hearing.

The warning followed submissions by the prosecuting lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who informed the court that Sowore did not appear for Thursday’s sitting despite being served with a hearing notice through his team of lawyers.

Sowore is facing prosecution by the Department of State Services for allegedly making false claims against President Bola Tinubu, accusing him of criminal conduct in posts shared on his social media accounts, including X and Facebook.

On Thursday, Sowore and all of his lawyers, numbering approximately 30, were absent.

Kehinde noted that the day’s proceedings were meant for the defence to conclude cross-examination of the first prosecution witness.

He told the court that both the defendant and the prosecution had been duly served with notice of the hearing.

Citing Sections 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Kehinde requested the court to revoke Sowore’s bail and issue a bench warrant for his immediate production in court.

Justice Umar acknowledged that Sowore has consistently attended previous hearings since the case began late last year.

The judge noted that prior adjournments had been requested by both the defence and prosecution, and he granted the benefit of the doubt to the defendant, recognising this as his first absence.

However, Justice Umar cautioned that if Sowore fails to appear on the next hearing date, the court would not hesitate to grant the prosecution’s request for bail revocation and issue a warrant for his arrest.

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The court adjourned the trial until March 16 and ordered that hearing notice be reissued to the defence.