Abuja Court Adjourns Sowore Cyberbullying Trial to June 15

A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the cyberbullying trial of Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore until June 15. The adjournment came on Friday to allow the court to rule on Sowore's application for the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, to recuse himself from the case. Sowore, who is representing himself after his legal team withdrew, also requested more time to assemble new counsel.

The Department of State Services is prosecuting Sowore on allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in posts on his X and Facebook accounts. The case had been scheduled for Friday for Sowore to open his defence, following a ruling on Thursday that denied his lawyer's request for a long adjournment and ordered the trial to proceed on a day-to-day basis.

When the hearing resumed on Friday, only the prosecution counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, was present. Sowore informed the court that his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, was absent. He stated that his legal team was afraid to appear before Justice Umar due to what they described as humiliation suffered in court. Sowore said he would represent himself temporarily while he...