The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday said the restriction to Abuja of human rights activist and 2023 presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, is “excessive”, and therefore lifted.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the Court of Appeal set aside the bail condition imposed on Sowore in 2019 by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court which restricted his movement to Abuja. By today’s judgment, Sowore is now free to move freely across all parts of the country.
It would be recalled that Sowore was sensationally arrested in a Gestapo manner by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) at a Lagos hotel on August 3, 2019, for planning to organise a protest tagged: “#RevolutionNow”.
Despite the trial court granting fresh bail to Sowore, the DSS refused to release him, until the government eventually bowed to local and international pressure in December 2019.
Upon his release, Sowore has continued to organise protests against the Buhari administration and has on different occasions been arrested, manhandled or detained in the process.
Since 2019, his movement was restricted to Abuja as part of the bail conditions granted him. But with this new court verdict, he should be able to take his campaign train nationwide.
