Nigerian government has announced its discontinuance of the treason trial against the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare.
The notice of discontinuance was served at the Federal High Court Abuja, on Thursday by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.
Confirming this development in a post on Twitter, Sowore said he has been vindicated.
“Five years ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria commenced a fruitlessly malicious, tendencious and idiosyncratic treason trial (Persecution) against me and several other revolutionary comrades across Nigeria, we stood our ground and began a historic journey to liberate our country, despite threats, assassination of family members, state sponsored violence and targeted attacks by security forces, we promised never to back down.
“Today, we have been vindicated on one front, the Nigerian government has terminated its own case against me, but we will not terminate our struggle for justice and liberty of our compatriots. We warned the @MBuhari regime and those who followed his ruinous path that they will face ultimate disgrace before long. We salute our revolutionary comrades.”
Sowore was arrested on August 3, 2019, by the SSS for planning a protest popularized with the hashtag, #RevolutionNow.
The protest took place on August 5, amidst heavy clampdown of protesters and journalists by security agents.
The SSS accused Sowore of plotting to cause chaos and overthrow ex-president Muhammadu Buhari. The Nigerian government filed a seven-count charge against him and a co-accused, Bakare.