By Muhammad Mamman
A Magistrates’ Court in Kuje, Abuja, has granted bail to human rights activist and SaharaReporters publisher Omoyele Sowore and 13 others arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in the Federal Capital Territory.
Those granted bail alongside Sowore include Aloy Ejimakor, lawyer to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, Kanu’s brother Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 11 other demonstrators.
Presiding magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id on Friday ordered that each defendant be released on ₦500,000 bail, with a verified National Identification Number (NIN). They must also submit three-year tax clearance certificates and their passports as part of the conditions.
The group had been arraigned on charges of unlawful assembly and disturbing public peace.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday by police operatives shortly after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja. His detention, widely circulated in viral videos, provoked outrage among civil society groups, who accused authorities of trying to suppress dissent and silence activism.
A long-time democracy campaigner, Sowore has been a prominent voice for civil rights in Nigeria for more than three decades. Through his media platform, SaharaReporters, he has consistently exposed corruption, abuse of power, and human rights violations within government.
