19th February, 2024
By Paul Dada
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, has struck out the case of treasonable felony brought against the Publisher of Sahara Reporters and Convener of #RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare , by the Federal Government.
Presiding Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite dismissed the case following its withdrawal by A.R. Tahir, counsel to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite ordered the Department of State Service (DSS) to immediately release three phones and the N10, 000 seized from Sowore during his arrest. He also ordered that Sowore’s Nigerian passport which had been seized be released.
The judge ordered the DSS to release a phone belonging to Bakare and the N1, 500 seized from him during his arrest.
The Federal Government had last Thursday informed the court of its decision to discontinue the trial of Sowore and Bakare.
The decision to discontinue the trial was communicated to the Federal High Court in Abuja via a notice of discontinuance, dated February 14 but filed the next day by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The notice read: “By virtue of the power conferred on me under Section 174 (1) (c} of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Section 107 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN intend to discontinue charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/235/2019.