Alleged treason: Sowore case stalled in absence of judge

The treason case brought by the federal government against former African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore was put on hold in the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday in the absence of a judge.

Mr. Sowore is on trial before Justice Emeka Nwite on charges of felony treason.

The federal government had accused Sowore of treason after calling for protests tagged #RevolutionNow on August 5, 2019.

Mr Sowore appeared in court on Tuesday but the matter could not proceed.

A lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, told NAN that he was informed by the registrar of the court that the judge was on domestic duty in another jurisdiction of the court.

Abubakar said a new date for the hearing should be set for February 14, 2024.

NAN recalls that on the last day of adjournment on November 15, Justice Nwite threatened to terminate the four-year-old case if the government did not comply with the court’s order to serve the charge sheet on the second defendant.

However, Ms Mariam Okorie, prosecuting, said she did not know whether the second defendant, Mr Olawale Bakare, had been served with the notice.

Sowore’s lawyer, Abubakar, told the court that the prosecution team was only trying to frustrate his client by failing to serve notice of hearing for the second defendant to appear in court.

Abubakar said he had written to the federation's attorney general and the minister of justice to drop the charges so that Sowore could accept his plea and stand trial alone.

The prosecutor also told the court that he had sent a letter to the minister and would have to wait for his response to know what to do next.

At the time, Judge Nwite said he was willing to grant an adjournment on the condition that the prosecution team complies with the court's order and refers the second defendant by the next adjournment date.

The judge had warned the second defendant that if he did not comply with the court's order, the case would be terminated.

Source: dailypost.ng