An Ogun State Magistrate’s Court in Abeokuta has dismissed the
criminal charges filed against four of the #RevolutionNow
protesters in Ogun State.
The defendants; Daniel Abraham, Festus Afofun, Kolawole Seun and
Okoro Romeo were reportedly arrested on August 5 while
participating in the national #RevolutionNow protest convened by
activist Omoyele Sowore.
The defence lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said in a statement on
Wednesday that the magistrate, Mr. O. A. Onagoruwa, discharged and
acquitted the four defendants following a no-case submission he
(Effiong) made on their behalf.
According to him, the defendants were charged with three counts
of conspiracy, unlawful assembly and conduct likely to cause a
breach of the peace.
The lawyer said his clients pleaded not guilty during their
arraignment on August 7, 2019.
Effiong quoted the magistrate as saying in Wednesday’s ruling
that “the prosecution failed to establish any of the essential
elements of the three counts.”
He described the ruling as “a vindication of our position that
the Nigerian government had no basis in law to have arrested,
detained or arraigned citizens who called for revolution during the
peaceful protest of August 5, 2019.”
Effiong said, “I have consistently said that the case is a
disgraceful attempt by the government to silence voices of dissent.
This is just the beginning of the end of the shambolic attempt by
this regime to illegally deploy the judicial process in a dubious
and immoral manner.”
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