…Sowore’s Lawyer Marshall Absent as Court Sets May 25 for Continuation of Trial
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted bail to social media commentator, Justice Chidiebere, popularly known as “Justice Crack,” in the sum of Five Million Naira (₦5,000,000), with one surety in the like sum. The bail was secured through his lawyer, Sam Amadi while Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar was visibly absent thoughout the sitting.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, while ruling on the bail application, imposed a number of conditions that must be satisfied before the bail is perfected.
The court directed that the proposed surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court at a fixed and verifiable address for a minimum of four years, and must deposit proof of residence either through a tenancy agreement or a Certificate of Occupancy, at the court registry.
The surety is required to be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 15, with evidence of at least three months of salary payments, a letter of authentication from the immediate head of department, and proof of pensionable employment. The surety must also depose to an affidavit of means and submit a recent passport photograph to the registry.
As a further condition, the defendant was directed to deposit his international passport with the court pending the determination of the matter.
Earlier in the proceedings, prosecution counsel, M. L. Aboye, informed the court that the prosecution was fully prepared to commence trial. The first prosecution witness, identified as Oronto Douglas, a DSS operative, thereafter took the stand.
The witness told the court that he came to know the defendant in the course of investigations, after he was transferred to the DSS from the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps. He stated that the defendant voluntarily made an extra-judicial statement, which was duly recorded in the presence of lawyers from legal aid counsel
According to the witness, soldiers had sent pictures to the defendant, who allegedly converted the images into videos and posted them on social media without verifying the authenticity of the materials with military sources. He further disclosed that investigators conducted a forensic examination of the defendant’s mobile phone, from which they extracted videos allegedly posted online, conversations between the defendant and some soldiers, chats with his godfather allegedly discussing protests, as well as excerpts from his various social media pages. The witness added that upon conclusion of the forensic process, a certificate of compliance was issued and signed by a superior officer.
Thereafter, the defense counsel Sam Amadi informed the court that the defence had not been served with the investigation report and other documents the prosecution sought to tender before the court.
The prosecution, in response, described the lapse as an oversight and tendered an unreserved apology to the court.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the DSS investigation report as Exhibit A.
The prosecution further tendered an iPhone allegedly recovered from the defendant, a flash drive said to contain videos posted on various social media platforms, conversations extracted from the device, and the certificate of compliance.
The defence, however, raised a formal objection to the admissibility of the flash drive, arguing that its contents had neither been described nor played before the court for proper evaluation.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter to May 25 for continuation of trial.