A Federal High Court in Abuja has threatened to revoke the bail it granted politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore in his ongoing trial on charges bordering on cyber crime.
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Justice Mohammed Umar, who issued the threat on Thursday, also said he would issued an arrest warrant for his forceful production should he fail to attend court on the next hearing date.
Justice Umar’s position was informed by observations and applications made by the prosecuting lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who noted that Sowore chose not to attend court despite evidence that he was served with hearing notice through his team of lawyers.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly making false claim against the person of Present Bola Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in a post he made on his “X” and Facebook accounts.
At Thursday’s hearing, Sowore was absent and so were all his lawyers numbering about 30.
Reacting to the development, Kehinde noted that the business of the day was for the defence to conclude his cross examination of the first prosecution witness.
The prosecuting lawyer said he confirmed from the court’s registry that hearing notice was served on the defendant through his lawyers, just as the prosecution was also served.
Kehinde said there is no reason why the defendant, who should ordinarily be present in court at every sitting, is not in court and also failed to provide any reason why he and his lawyers, who are about 30 in number, are not in court.
Citing the provision of Section 352(1)&(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Kehinde prayed the court to among others, order the revocation of the bail granted the defendant and issue a bench warrant against him for his immediate production in court to face his trial.
Ruling, Justice Umar, who confirmed that Sowore was duly served with hearing notice through his lawyers, however noted that the defendant has always attended court since the case began late last year.
The judge also noted that past adjournments granted in the case had been at the instance of both the prosecution and the defence.
He said the defendant should be given the benefit of the doubt since it was his first time of being absent in his trial.
Justice Umar however, said should Sowore fail to attend court on the next date, he would not hesitate to grant the prosecution’s request that the defendant’s bail be revoked and arrest warrant issued against him.
The judge then adjourned till March 16 for continuation of trial and ordered that hearing notice be further issued on the defence.
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