30th September, 2019
The Department of State Services, DSS, has docked the convener of the #RevolutionNow Protest, Omoyele Sowore on a seven-count charge of treason, money laundering and cyberstalking President Muhammadu Buhari.
Sowore was brought to court in Abuja today alongside another defendant, Olawole Bakare, also known as Mandate.
However, Sowore pleaded not guilty to the seven-count charge the Federal Government preferred against him.
The activist was arraigned with Olawale Bakare, on Monday, as they pleaded not guilty to the seven counts of treasonable felony and other sundry offences instituted against them by the Federal Government.
They were arraigned before Justice Ijeoma Ojuwku of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Justice Ojukwu had earlier dismissed the objection of the defendants’ lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), to the scheduled arraignment.
Olumide-Fusika stated that the arraignment should not be allowed to go on on the grounds that the DSS, which has been keeping him in custody since August 3, 2019, had not allowed the defendants to consult with their lawyer after the charges were filed.
According to him, the court should protect its integrity by refusing to allow the arraignment to proceed when the prosecution continued to disobey the court order made on September 24, 2019, for the release.
The prosecution led by Hassan Liman (SAN) asked the court to dismiss the objection, saying that what was more important was that the defendants had been served with the charges.