Omoyele Sowore and others granted ₦500,000 bail each by a Kuje Magistrate’s Court over alleged public disturbance during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja.
A Magistrate’s Court in Kuje, Abuja, has granted bail to publisher and activist Omoyele Sowore, lawyer Aloy Ejimakor, Emmanuel Kanu (brother to detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu), and ten others, each in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum.
The court’s decision followed their arraignment for allegedly inciting public disturbance and breaching the peace during the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held in Abuja on October 20, 2025.
According to court filings, the defendants were accused of obstructing traffic and chanting protest songs that allegedly threatened national security. The amended First Information Report (FIR) listed offences including criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, and incitement, contrary to sections 100, 101, 104, 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code.
While Sowore was arrested on October 23 at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where he had gone to show solidarity with Kanu, the others were earlier detained and remanded at the Kuje Correctional Facility.
During Friday’s sitting, the police counsel, Adama Musa, sought to withdraw the initial FIR dated October 21 and replace it with an updated version filed on October 23 to include Sowore’s name. The court granted the request, and the amended charges were read to all 13 defendants, who pleaded not guilty.
Defence counsel, P.A.N. Ejoiofor, applied for bail, arguing that the prosecution’s counter-affidavit was invalid because it carried a different case number (CR/252/2025) instead of the current one (CR/253/2025). He urged the court to disregard the document, saying it was “null and void.”
The Magistrate agreed with the defence, ruling that “there is no valid counter-affidavit before this court,” and subsequently granted bail to all defendants.
The sureties are required to present a three-year tax clearance certificate and valid identification such as a National ID or international passport.
The matter was adjourned to December 15, 2025, for hearing.
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