Human rights activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has reacted to the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja revoking his bail and issuing a bench warrant for his arrest.
Taking to his social media, the Sahara Reporters publisher strongly condemned the court’s decision, accusing the trial judge of bias and trying to forcefully control the case.
The Eagle Online had reported that the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday revoked the bail granted to the prominent activist and consequently issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he ‘failed’ to appear for proceedings in his ongoing cybercrime trial.
Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, ordered Sowore’s arrest following an oral application by counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who argued that the defendant had failed to provide sufficient justification for his absence.
Sowore is facing prosecution by the DSS over allegations that he made false and defamatory statements against President Bola Tinubu by describing him as “a criminal” in posts he was said to have published on his X and Facebook accounts.
The matter was scheduled for ruling on an application filed by Sowore seeking the judge’s recusal from the case.
However, when the case was called on Tuesday, neither Sowore nor his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, was present in court.
The court was informed that the defendant had written a letter requesting an adjournment of the proceedings.
Opposing the request, Kehinde argued that no cogent reason had been advanced for Sowore’s absence and urged the court to revoke his bail and issue a warrant for his arrest.
The judge subsequently granted the application, revoked the defendant’s bail, and ordered his arrest.
In a swift reaction to the ruling, Sowore claimed the decision was part of a deliberate attempt to intimidate him and insisted that he had appeared in court on Monday, June 15, when the matter was initially scheduled.
“It has been brought to my notice that the judge presiding over my case concerning ‘Tinubu is a criminal’ has revoked my bail, despite my presence in court yesterday, when the judge was not in attendance. Consequently, we requested a new date,” Sowore wrote on his social media accounts.
“The agenda for today was to consider my application seeking the judge’s recusal, but instead, he opted to revoke my bail in a bid to assert forceful control over the trial.
“I will confront these developments with determination and resilience,” he added.
Attached to the post was a letter dated June 15, 2026, addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
In the letter, Sowore stated that he was present in court on June 15 from about 8:20 a.m. until approximately 11:57 a.m., when he was informed by court registry officials that the court would not be sitting.
He said no prior notice or reason was given for the judge’s absence.
Sowore subsequently requested that the ruling on his recusal application be fixed for July 2, 3, 14, 15, 17, or September 8, 9 and 10, or any other date convenient to the court.
The letter, which copied the prosecution counsel, bears a Federal High Court Abuja registry stamp dated June 15, 2026, indicating it was received by the court.
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