A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday granted Omoyele Sowore, a human activist and former presidential candidate, new bail in the amount of N200 million, weeks after revoking his previous release for failing to appear for trial.
In a ruling, Justice Muhammad Umar instructed Sowore to provide two sureties before the bail could be granted.
One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from his community, and the other must have landed property in the Federal Capital Territory.
The judge also ordered the defendant to leave his international passport with the court registrar pending the outcome of the case.
On Tuesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja granted Omoyele Sowore, an activist and former presidential candidate, new bail of N200 million, weeks after revoking his previous parole for failing to appear for trial.
In a ruling, Justice Muhammad Umar ordered Sowore to provide two sureties before bail could be granted.
One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from his village, while the other must own land in the Federal Capital Territory.
The judge further directed the defendant to deposit his international passport with the court registrar, awaiting the result of the case.
On June 16, after Sowore did not show up for court, the court revoked his bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
The prosecution, lead by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), contested Sowore’s motion for an adjournment, arguing that the court should move forward with the trial notwithstanding Sowore’s explanation that he was unable to appear due to a prior engagement in Lagos.
Sowore contested the bench warrant and requested the trial judge’s recusal after his bail was revoked.
After the application was denied, he was placed on remand at the Kuje Correctional Center until his new bail request could be heard.
In his decision on Tuesday, Justice Umar reinstated the defendant’s bail under new conditions, requiring him to pay the N200 million bail bond and fulfill the requirements before being released.
Shortly after the decision, Sowore responded by claiming that the bail requirements would not stop him from moving on and characterizing them as a component of the government’ ongoing attempts against him.
He said, “There is no bus on earth that can stop this revolution. We warned them, but they would not listen. But now, it appears a little bit of common sense is returning to them, and as a result, I was granted bail, requiring a traditional ruler, somebody with property in Abuja, and N200m and my international passport.
“They have always been after the passport. So nobody can come after our movement. Nobody can stop the movement. Nobody can stop the idea whose time has come.
“What I want to tell Nigerians is that it is not about my freedom; it is about the liberation of the Nigerian people.”
