Publisher and activist, Omoyele Sowore, a member of the legal team representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Aloy Ejimakor, and Emmanuel Kanu, brother to the IPOB leader, alongside ten others, have regained their freedom after meeting the bail conditions granted by a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Kuje, Abuja.
The court had on Friday admitted all 13 defendants to bail in the sum of ₦500,000 each, with two sureties in like sum. The sureties, according to the ruling, are required to provide three years’ tax clearance certificates and valid means of identification, such as a National Identity Number (NIN) slip or international passport.
The defendants; Sowore, Ejimakor, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, Joshua Emmanuel, Bishop Wilson Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom Nnamdi, Clinton Chimeneze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom, and Godswill Obiama — were accused of participating in the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest in Abuja on October 20, 2025.
They were arraigned on allegations bordering on criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, membership of an unlawful assembly, disobedience to lawful order, incitement, and disturbance of public peace, offences said to contravene Sections 100, 101, 104, 152, 114, and 113 of the Penal Code Law.
According to the amended First Information Report (FIR) presented by the prosecution, the defendants allegedly obstructed public movement, disrupted traffic, and chanted “war songs” while demanding the release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is facing terrorism-related charges before the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The report further claimed that Sowore fled upon sighting security operatives before being apprehended, an allegation the activist has strongly denied.
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During Friday’s proceedings, Police prosecutor, Adama Musa, informed the court of an application to withdraw the earlier FIR filed on October 21 and replace it with an amended version dated October 23, to properly include all 13 defendants. The request was granted by the Magistrate.
When the new charges were read, all defendants pleaded not guilty, describing the allegations as “baseless” and politically motivated.
Defence counsel, P. A. N. Ejoiofor, subsequently urged the court to grant bail to the defendants, citing their social standing and professional backgrounds. “Some of these individuals are public figures. Sowore is a former presidential candidate, while Ejimakor and Bishop are senior legal practitioners. They are credible persons who will not jump bail,” he argued.
However, the prosecution opposed the application, filing a 13-paragraph counter-affidavit which the defence promptly challenged for being “incompetent” and bearing a different case number (CR/252/2025) instead of the correct one, CR/253/2025.
In his ruling, the Magistrate agreed with the defence, holding that the counter-affidavit “was not validly filed for the present case.”
He declared: “There is no counter-affidavit before this court. I cannot rely on a document filed in another case to decide this one.”
Consequently, the court granted bail to all defendants under the stipulated conditions and adjourned the case to December 15, 2025, for hearing.
All 13 defendants have since met their bail requirements and have been released from custody.
The #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest, which led to their arrest, was organised by rights activists and IPOB supporters demanding the unconditional release of Kanu, who has remained in detention despite multiple court orders granting him bail.
