Nigeria: FG charges Sowore with treasonable felony, accuses him of insulting Buhari

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:23 pm

The Federal Government on Friday filed seven counts of treasonable felony and money laundering against the Convener of # RevolutionNow protest , Mr . Omoyele Sowore .
Sowore , publisher of SaharaReporters and a presidential candidate in the February 2019 presidential election is charged along with Olawale Bakare , also known as Mandate.
The charges were signed on behalf of the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice , Abubakar Malami ( SAN ), by Aminu Alilu , a Chief State Counsel in the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation , the Federal Ministry of Justice .
The charges were filed a day before the expiration of the detention order of the Federal High Court in Abuja permitting the Department of State Service to keep the activist for 45 days .

The detention order elapses on September 21 .
In the charges instituted against the defendants , the prosecution accused Sowore and his co -defendant of committing conspiracy to commit treasonable felony in breach of section 516 of the Criminal Code Act by allegedly staging “ a revolution campaign on September 5 , 2019 aimed at removing the President and Commander – in -Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” .
The prosecution also accused them of committing the actual offence of reasonable felony in breach of section , 4 ( 1 ) ( c) of the Criminal Code Act , by using the platform of Coalition for Revolution , in August 2019 in Abuja , Lagos and other parts of Nigeria , to stage the # RevolutionNow protest allegedly aimed at removing the President .
It also accused Sowore of cybercrime offences in violation of section 24 ( 1 ) ( b ) of the Cybercrimes ( Prohibition , Prevention) Act , by “ knowingly ” sending “ messages by means of press interview granted on Arise Television network which you knew to be false for the purpose of causing insult , enmity , hatred and ill – will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. ”
It also accused Sowore of money laundering offences in breach of section 15 ( 1 ) of the Money Laundering ( Prohibition ) Act , 2011 .