The ongoing case between human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and the Nigeria Police Force suffered another setback today at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
At the second appearance before Justice Emeka Nwite, the prosecution admitted that despite previously boasting of securing an ex parte order, they were still unable to serve charges on Sahara Reporters, the second defendant in the matter.
Sowore, taking to his official Facebook page after the session, described the proceedings as another collapse of what he called a politically motivated trial designed to silence him.
His legal team, led by Barrister Tope Temokun of Tope Temokun Chambers, Lagos, and joined by Barrister Marshal D.F. Abubakar (Falana Chambers), Barrister Rosemary Hamza (Deji Adeyanju & Co.), Barrister Chike Anago, and Barrister Sunday Adebayo (Pelumi Olajengbesi’s Law Corridor), challenged the competence and constitutionality of the charges filed by the police.
During arguments, Barrister Abubakar cited provisions of the Police Act (2020), stressing that the law prohibits officers from weaponizing their office to pursue personal vendettas.
He urged the court not to proceed with arraignment until the fundamental breaches in the case had been addressed.
Justice Nwite consequently adjourned the matter until September 15, 2025.
Sowore described the adjournment as “another wasted day on the altar of frivolities by an incompetent Police Force led by an illegal Inspector General of Police,” reiterating his stance that the charges against him remain baseless and politically driven.
The Inspector-General of Police is accusing Sowore of forging a police wireless message — CB:0900/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.177/174 DTO:301605/07/2025 — issued by the IGP’s Secretariat on July 30, 2025, and sharing it on social media with the “intent to tarnish the image of the Nigeria Police Force.”
In his reaction on Tuesday, Sowore dismissed the charges as a “charade,” branding IGP Kayode Egbetokun an “illegal IGP” and accusing President Bola Tinubu’s administration of resorting to the same failed repressive tactics deployed under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Tomorrow, we are before Justice Emeka Nwite as the Illegal IGP hits the brick wall. These are his charges, his ‘evidence’ and witnesses. The public is invited to Court 8 at the Federal Court in Abuja to witness this charade. Time: 8AM,” Sowore declared in one of his posts.
He further alleged that Egbetokun had tried to lure him into private meetings, which he rejected, saying: “I am not interested in meetings with crooks and criminals. I can’t be an accessory to their crimes against the Nigerian people, and they won’t learn until this regime, the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is finally disgraced too.”
Meanwhile, earlier reports had revealed that Justice Emeka Nwite of the same court granted an ex parte motion filed by the police, directing six banks — UBA, GTB, Zenith Bank, Opay, Moniepoint, and Kuda Microfinance Bank — to hand over Sowore’s account details from January 2024 to date.
The IGP’s lawyer, Wisdom Madaki, had claimed that Sowore and the Sahara Reporters Media Foundation were being investigated for terrorism financing, money laundering, and fraudulent activities.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite said: “I’m of the view and so hold that the application is meritorious. The prayer is hereby granted as prayed.”
The police had told the court that Sowore was allegedly using multiple bank accounts for terrorism financing and illicit money flows.
Sowore, however, insists the case is a desperate attempt by the Nigerian government to muzzle him and silence dissent.