Cybercrime Trial: Court Gives Omoyele Sowore Final Warning Over Court Absence

A Federal High Court in Abuja has warned that it may revoke the bail granted to politician and online publisher Omoyele Sowore if he fails to appear at the next hearing in his cybercrime trial.

Justice Mohammed Umar issued the warning on Thursday after Sowore and his legal team were absent from court proceedings. The judge said he could also issue a bench warrant to compel the defendant’s appearance if he does not attend the next session.

Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over allegations that he made a false claim about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Prosecutors say Sowore described the president as a criminal in posts published on his social media accounts on X and Facebook.

During Thursday’s session, neither Sowore nor any member of his legal team—reported to be about 30 lawyers—appeared in court.

Prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) told the court that the defence had been served with a hearing notice through their lawyers. He added that court records confirmed both the prosecution and defence received the notification.

Kehinde said the defendant was expected to be present for the continuation of cross-examination of the first prosecution witness. He argued that Sowore’s absence, without explanation, justified the revocation of his bail and the issuance of a bench warrant.

Citing Section 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the prosecution asked the court to withdraw the bail earlier granted to the defendant and order his immediate arrest.

In his ruling, Justice Umar confirmed that the defence had been served with a hearing notice. However, he noted that Sowore had attended previous court sessions since the trial began late last year.

The judge also observed that earlier adjournments in the case had been requested by both the prosecution and defence.

Justice Umar said the court would give the defendant the benefit of the doubt since it was his first absence during the trial.

He warned, however, that if Sowore fails to appear at the next hearing, the court would consider the prosecution’s request to revoke his bail and issue an arrest warrant.

The case was adjourned to March 16 for continuation of trial, with the court ordering that another hearing notice be served on the defence.