The hearing of the suit filed by the Nigeria Police Force against Omoyele Sowore and other conveners of the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest was, on Wednesday, stalled at the Federal High Court, Abuja, due to the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Umar.
Justice Umar was said to be sitting at the Enugu Division of the Federal High Court. Consequently, the matter, listed as number 11 on Wednesday’s cause list, was adjourned to November 5 for hearing.
Justice Umar had earlier, on October 17, fixed October 20 for the respondents in the police’s ex parte motion to show cause why the interim order restraining them from protesting should not be vacated.
However, the hearing could not hold on that date due to the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest, which took place the same day and disrupted court activities in Abuja.
The interim order, granted on October 17, restrained Sowore and others from holding demonstrations demanding the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in certain parts of Abuja.
The restricted areas include the Aso Rock Villa, National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way.
The order followed an ex-parte application filed by police counsel Wisdom Madaki on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2202/2025.
The police listed Sowore, Sahara Reporters Ltd, and Sahara Reporters Media Foundation as the 1st to 3rd respondents, and the Take It Back Movement (TIB) and unidentified persons or groups as the 4th and 5th respondents.
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In an affidavit supporting the motion, Bassey Ibithan, a police officer attached to the Directorate of Legal Services at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, said the planned protest could threaten national security and public order.
Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 elections, had planned a peaceful rally on October 20 to demand Kanu’s release.
With Wednesday’s adjournment, the court is expected to hear the motion on notice on November 5.
