Sowore Appears in Court for Arraignment
By Alex Enumah in Abuja
The federal government on Monday brought detained Convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore, to court for arraignment on a seven count charge bordering on treasonable felony and money laundering.
Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the February 23 presidential election has been in custody of the Department State Service (DSS) since August on the order of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
He came into the court at exactly 9.15am escorted by security operatives.
He was greeted with a resounding ovation by his supporters who had already besieged the court since 8am.
Sowore has been in the custody of the DSS since August 3 when he was arrested by the security agency.
Despite a court order for his release on September 24, the agency has however refused to release him.
The federal government had on September 20 filed the charge against Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters barely 24 hours to the expiration of the detention order.
He is to be arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The charge which was signed on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), by a Chief State Counsel, Aminu Alilu, in the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Justice, specifically accused Sowore and his co-defendant of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony in breach of section 516 of the Criminal Code Act by allegedly staging “a revolution campaign on September 5, 2019 aimed at removing the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The prosecution also accused them of committing the actual offence of treasonable felony in breach of section, 4(1)(c) of the Criminal Code Act, by using the platform of Coalition for Revolution, in August 2019 in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, to stage the #RevolutionNow protest allegedly aimed at removing the President.
Sowore was further accused of cybercrime offences in violation of section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, by “knowingly” sending “messages by means of press interview granted on Arise Television network which you knew to be false for the purpose of causing insult, enmity, hatred and ill-will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
It also accused Sowore of money laundering offences in breach of section 15(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
