Human rights activist and former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, appeared at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday for his arraignment on new charges brought by the Nigeria Police Force.
The police accuse Sowore of cybercrime, forgery, and instigating police mutiny during a July protest involving retired police officers. The three-count charge is set to be heard by Justice Emeka Nwite.
Arriving in high spirits, Sowore declared he would not be intimidated by Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, insisting that both citizens and police officers must be freed from the grip of oppressive leadership. He was accompanied by a team of human rights lawyers, including Abubakar Marshal, Alexander Oketa, Wayne Chikezie Elijah, and Chike Anago Amanze, along with his supporters.
This development follows his January 2025 arraignment on 17 cybercrime-related charges for repeatedly labelling Egbetokun an “illegal IGP” in videos and social media posts, where he called for mass resistance to what he termed “constitutional vandalism” after the IGP’s disputed tenure extension.
In a post on X, Sowore confirmed his court appearance, describing the new accusations as baseless. Earlier in the week, he revealed that police had returned his AI-enabled Ray-Ban glasses, which were stolen during the July 21 protest. The demonstration, aimed at securing better pensions for retired police officers and removing the force from the Contributory Pension Scheme, was disrupted by the theft, which was caught on camera.
The glasses were handed back after Sowore honoured a police invitation to the Force Headquarters on Tuesday. Thursday’s hearing marks yet another in a series of legal confrontations between him and the police this year, most linked to cybercrime allegations.
