The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday upturned a ruling restricting the movement of the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, to Abuja.
Recall that Sowore was arrested in Lagos by operatives of the Department of State Services on August 3, 2019, for planning to organise a protest tagged “#RevolutionNow”.
On October 4, 2019, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja granted bail to Sowore in the sum of N100 million and two sureties in like sum.
As a condition, one of the sureties was to deposit the sum of N50 million in the account of the court.
As part of the conditions, Sowore was not to address any rally or public gathering and not to leave the FCT.
The court later varied the bail conditions reducing the bond to N50 million after the defendant complained that the conditions were too stringent.
Dissatisfied, the publisher approached the Court of Appeal seeking to set aside the conditions that restricted him from addressing public gatherings and leaving the FCT.
Delivering judgment in the appeal on Wednesday, the Appeal Court held that the ruling restricting Sowore to Abuja was excessive.
The court ruled that Sowore could now leave Abuja but not travel out of Nigeria.
