Dare Babalola
A Magistrate Court in Kuje, Abuja, has granted bail to activist Omoyele Sowore and several others arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
The court also granted bail to Aloy Ejimakor, counsel for the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu; his brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu and 11 others.
The bail was granted by Magistrate Abubakar Umar Sai’id on Friday after the defendants were charged with unlawful assembly and disturbing public peace.
The court set bail at ₦500,000 each for Sowore and the other protesters, with the condition that they provide a verified National Identification Number (NIN).
The magistrate also required the defendants to provide three-year tax clearance certificates and surrender their passports as bail conditions.
Sowore was arrested on Thursday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force after leaving the Federal High Court in Abuja.
His arrest, which was captured in videos that circulated online, drew widespread criticism from civil society organisations and human rights groups who described it as another attempt to suppress dissent and silence activism.
Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the younger brother of the detained leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, and Aloy Ejimakor, his legal counsel, were arrested during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja on Monday.
Earlier, Benjamin Hundeyin, Force Public Relations Officer, explained that the arrests followed a breach of a valid court order restricting public gatherings linked to the agitation for Kanu’s release.
