The Take-It-Back Movement (TIB), a human rights and pro-democracy group, has announced its intention to be present at the Federal High Court in Abuja to show support for Comrade Omoyele Sowore as he faces re-arraignment on charges of treasonable felony. Sowore, who ran as the presidential candidate for the African Action Congress in both 2019 and 2023, has been the subject of legal proceedings since his arrest in 2019.
In 2019, a Federal High Court in Abuja imposed travel restrictions on Sowore as part of his bail conditions in his trial for treasonable felony. These charges were filed against him by the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office following his arrest by the State Security Service (SSS), also known as the Department of State Services (DSS). His arrest was related to his call for a nationwide #RevolutionNow protest against the administration of then-President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2019.
Sowore, along with his co-defendant Olawale Bakare, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail under what they deemed “stringent” conditions. However, in April 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja lifted the travel restrictions, allowing Sowore to move beyond Abuja, although he remains restricted from traveling outside Nigeria.
Take-It-Back Movement, in a statement posted on its verified Twitter handle, expressed its support for Sowore and maintained that he had committed no offense. The group demanded the immediate release of Sowore and criticized what they saw as a continuation of injustice in his case.
The statement declared, “Again, we will be at the Federal High Court Abuja on Tuesday, 10th of October, 2023, in solidarity with comrade Omoyele Sowore where the Tinubu regime will be re-arraigning him on charges of treasonable felony. For more than four years, the Buhari regime jailed, hounded, and persecuted him, unable to see his wife and children.
It is rather unfortunate that Tinubu has decided to continue on this path of impunity and injustice. Sowore has committed no offense. We demand that the Tinubu regime immediately abandons this charade and frees Sowore, unconditionally. #FreeSowore.”