Court cancels Sowore’s bail and orders his arrest

The Federal High Court in Abuja has cancelled the bail it gave to Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters. This happened on Tuesday because he was not present for his cyberbullying trial.

Trial judge, Mohammed Umar, made this decision based on a request from the prosecutor, Akinkolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The judge also issued an order for Sowore's arrest.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the State Security Service (SSS) is taking Sowore to court. They say he made false claims about President Bola Tinubu by calling him "a criminal" on his posts on "X" and Facebook.

On June 5, Judge Umar set Tuesday for his ruling on a request by Sowore’s lawyer, Marshal Abubakar. The lawyer wanted the judge to step down from the case.

When the case was called on Tuesday, Sowore and his lawyer were not in court. The judge learned that Sowore had sent a letter asking for more time.

The SSS lawyer, Kehinde, opposed the request for more time. He argued that Sowore did not give a good reason for his absence.

Because of this, Kehinde asked the court to cancel Sowore's bail and to issue an arrest warrant. The judge agreed to this request.