BREAKING: Abuja Court Returns Sowore’s Passport After Over A Year In Police-Filed Controversial Cybercrime Case
According to Sowore, the developments followed an earlier ruling by Justice Musa Liman, who had struck out the cybercrime case against him.
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has confirmed that his passport has finally been returned following months of an extended and unjustified seizure connected to a contentious cybercrime case filed by the police.
Sowore shared the update on Tuesday, providing a detailed account of court proceedings and highlighting a series of questionable legal maneuvers in the case, which was originally initiated under the watch of former Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
According to Sowore, the developments followed an earlier ruling by Justice Musa Liman, who had struck out the cybercrime case against him.
“Today was a revealing and deeply troubling day,” Sowore said.
He explained that he returned to court after Justice Liman dismissed the cybercrime charges originally brought against him by Egbetokun, whom he described as illegally appointed and now removed.
However, Sowore alleged that instead of accepting the ruling, Egbetokun allegedly attempted to revive the case through fresh legal manoeuvres within the police hierarchy.
“Rather than accept that ruling, Egbetokun, working through loyalists, orchestrated a fresh legal maneuver,” Sowore said.
He explained that the attempt involved senior police officials including Assistant Commissioner of Police Bukola Kuti and Assistant Inspector-General of Police Emmanuel Ade Aina, the Director of Legal Services of the Nigeria Police Force who oversees the Police Legal Directorate.
According to Sowore, the officials filed what he described as a bizarre ex parte motion seeking to relist the same case for a fresh trial despite the earlier court decision striking it out.
“It is astonishing that even after his removal from office, Egbetokun appears to continue exerting influence within the police hierarchy,” he added.
Sowore said his legal team, led by Barrister Marshal D. F. Abubakar and Barrister Rosemary Hamza of Adeyanju Deji’s chambers, immediately applied for the certified copy of the ruling and the final court order striking out the case.
However, he alleged that court officials delayed the process.
“Court officials stalled the process, citing public holiday,” he said.
The activist explained that a key priority for his lawyers was retrieving his passport as well as land documentation belonging to his surety, which had been seized by Justice Liman as part of bail conditions imposed in January 2025.
Despite repeated requests, Sowore explained that the judge initially refused to release the documents.
“Despite repeated applications, the judge refused to release it, at one point even suggesting that my wife and family must swear affidavits before it could be returned,” he said.
He further noted that the case experienced repeated adjournments, which were often attributed to Justice Liman’s engagements such as conferences and other official commitments.
According to Sowore, recent developments have now raised questions about those delays.
He revealed that last week, AIG Emmanuel Ade Aina filed an unusual ex parte motion asking the court to relist the already struck-out case.
Sowore said that when he arrived at court on Tuesday, the court registrar informed his legal team that Justice Liman would not formally sign the ruling and order striking out the case until the police appeared in court to move their application to relist the case and subsequently withdraw it in open court.
He said the situation took another unexpected turn when the police filed yet another ex parte application seeking to withdraw their earlier motion to relist the case.
“While we waited for proceedings to begin, we were suddenly informed that the case was not listed for hearing,” Sowore explained.
Despite the development, Sowore said his legal team insisted that the request to relist the case should not interfere with their request for the official ruling and order striking out the charges.
During the waiting period at the court premises, Sowore said he addressed journalists on several national issues.
However, he alleged that the interaction was abruptly disrupted by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Musbau, SAN.
“In the course of that interaction, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Musbau, SAN, abruptly interrupted and attempted to bully both myself and members of the press to vacate the courtroom area,” Sowore said.
“He clearly did not anticipate what followed.”
Following the disruption, Sowore said he and his team left the courtroom and proceeded to another scheduled engagement with the Independent National Electoral Commission in the Federal Capital Territory.
He explained that after concluding the meeting, his lawyers informed him about fresh developments in court.
According to him, Justice Liman had subsequently relisted the matter, allowed a police lawyer to move the application, and then terminated the entire case through an ex parte order granting the police permission to withdraw it.
“My international passport was subsequently released to my lawyer and returned to me, bringing to a close yet another prolonged and unjustified seizure,” Sowore said.
