The failed arraignment of activist Omoyele Sowore on charges of cybercrime and criminal defamation is an embarrassing indictment of the government’s approach to political prosecution. The Directorate of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), under the umbrella of the Federal Government, demonstrated a perplexing, if not deliberately, shoddy handling of the case by failing to serve the charge sheet on Sowore as stipulated by law. This forced the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Garba, to acknowledge the basic failure in due process and grant a three-week adjournment to October 27.
This signals a possible legal delay tactic designed to keep a politically sensitive case hovering over the head of a prominent critic. When the State, with all its legal machinery, feigns confusion over basic service protocols, it raises serious questions about whether the true objective is justice or judicial harassment.
The immediate request by Sowore’s counsel for time to study the charge (a fundamental right) was a move to reclaim the narrative from a State seemingly content to ambush an opposition voice. This entire episode—the initial non-service, the judge’s intervention, and the forced adjournment—sends a chilling message: the State is willing to weaponise the legal process to wear down dissent.
The gravity of the charges themselves (including accusing Sowore of violating the draconian Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act 2024 and the archaic Criminal Code Act for a mere social media post) cannot be overstated.
The alleged offense is calling the President a “criminal” and accusing him of lying about corruption—a quintessential act of freedom of speech in a democracy. Worse still is the baffling, unprecedented inclusion of Meta (Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter) as co-defendants, apparently without legally disclosing any offence they committed. This is a plain as day attempt at legal intimidation to coerce global tech giants into censoring Nigerian critics, thereby creating a dangerous “fear-laden effect” on all online expression.
