Despite meeting the bail conditions, Omoyele Sowore, Convener of the #RevolutionaryNow protest, is still in the custody of the Department of State Service, DSS, said his lawyer.
Sowore was arrested and detained by men of Department of State Security, DSS but freed by Federal High Court Lagos on Wednesday, September 25.
His counsel, Femi Falana, SAN, who stated this in an interview with Channels Television, explained that no reason had been given by the DSS for its failure to comply with the court order delivered on Tuesday, September 24, 2019.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo had ordered the release of Sowore who is also the publisher of Sahara Reporters.
He was arrested on the eve of his planned protest across Nigeria and detained for 45 days in the DSS custody over allegations of treasonable felony and money laundering.
A day before the 45-day detention was to elapse, the Federal Government filed additional charges against him.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Godwin Agbadua, the Federal Government prosecutor, stated that Sowore had committed a capital offence and should still be detained in the “interest of justice and national security.”
But Falana argued that his client was charged with insulting the President, money laundering and conspiracy to commit treason, all of which he said were not capital offences.
While other charges were maintained, Agbadua, however, withdrew the application to further detain Sowore and the court struck out the application.
Consequently, Falana asked the court to order the immediate release of his client.
According to him, there is no longer any competent court order for his further remand.
After hearing arguments from both the prosecuting and defence counsels, the Judge ordered Sowore’s release on the ground that there was no order still in court.
He, however, ordered Sowore to deposit all his travel documents with the court within 48 hours and also asked his lawyer to present him whenever the court needed him.
