A Federal High Court in Abuja has warned that it may revoke the bail granted to activist and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, if he fails to appear at the next hearing of his ongoing cybercrime trial.
The presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, issued the warning on Thursday, stating that the court would also issue a bench warrant for Sowore’s arrest should he fail to attend the next sitting.
The warning followed an application by the prosecution counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, who informed the court that Sowore failed to appear despite being served a hearing notice through his legal team.
Sowore is currently being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The charge stems from a post on his social media accounts on X and Facebook in which he allegedly referred to the president as a criminal.
At Thursday’s proceedings, neither Sowore nor any member of his legal team—reportedly numbering about 30 lawyers—was present in court.
The prosecuting counsel told the court that the matter was scheduled for the defence to conclude the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness. He added that records from the court registry confirmed that hearing notices were properly served on the defendant through his lawyers, just as the prosecution also received its notice.
Kehinde argued that there was no justification for Sowore’s absence, especially since a defendant in a criminal trial is expected to be present at every court sitting. He therefore urged the court to invoke Section 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 by revoking the defendant’s bail and issuing a bench warrant for his arrest to ensure his appearance in court.
In his ruling, Justice Umar acknowledged that Sowore had been duly served through his lawyers but noted that the defendant had consistently attended previous hearings since the trial began late last year. He also observed that earlier adjournments in the case had been requested by both the prosecution and the defence.
The judge said the court would give Sowore the benefit of the doubt since it was his first absence from the proceedings.
However, Justice Umar warned that if the defendant fails to appear at the next hearing, the court would not hesitate to grant the prosecution’s request to revoke his bail and order his arrest.
The case was subsequently adjourned until March 16 for the continuation of trial, with the court directing that another hearing notice be issued to the defence.
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