Sowore’s Cybercrime Trial Over “Illegal IGP Egbetokun” Remark Stalled For Fourth Time As Justice Liman Skips Hearing For Seminar
Sowore’s Cybercrime Trial Over “Illegal IGP Egbetokun” Remark Stalled For Fourth Time As Justice Liman Skips Hearing For Seminar
The court registrar informed Sowore and his legal team that the judge would be proceeding on vacation until December, adjourning the case to December 3, 2025.
Justice Musa S. Liman of the Federal High Court in Abuja was absent once again on Monday for the cybercrime trial of activist Omoyele Sowore, who is being prosecuted for referring to Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP”.
Sowore’s trial was again stalled after Justice Liman cited attendance at a seminar outside Abuja as his reason for absence.
The matter, listed as number six on the court’s cause list for Monday, September 29, 2025, could not proceed. The court registrar informed Sowore and his legal team that the judge would be proceeding on vacation until December, adjourning the case to December 3, 2025.
This marks the fourth time Justice Liman has failed to appear in the case, which has repeatedly suffered delays over what critics describe as flimsy excuses.
The judge had missed several sessions scheduled to hear a new application for the release of Sowore’s passport, which had been seized by the court since January.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, Sowore expressed frustration over the repeated absences, condemning the manner in which the judge has thus far abandoned the case.
“This is the first case of the week filed by the illegal Inspector General of Police, considering the allegation that I called him an illegal IGP. They seized my passport around January, and the judge has practically absconded from the case.
“This is our fourth time coming to court with the excuse of going to a seminar, and today we came to court, and he has gone for another seminar, and he will not be back until December 3rd because he’s also going on vacation. Our lawyers will put their heads together and decide on what to do.
We are not coming to court because we believe the court will give justice but we come to court to deliver justice to the court pic.twitter.com/E9jb0NLpc0
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) September 29, 2025
“As we always tell you, the reason we come to court is because we want to expose everything that is wrong with the judicial system, rotten police, and agencies of government. We don’t come to court to get justice; we come to court to bring justice to our court, and that’s our goal. That includes exposing some of these justices who have been doing Nigeria dirty.
“That is the outcome of today’s case. We walked into the courtroom where the judge was absent. We also went to another courtroom where we’ll be appearing tomorrow in that case between me and the State Security Service (also known as Department of State Services – DSS).”
“They also sued me for calling President (Bola) Tinubu a criminal; they’ve not only charged me, they’ve also charged Meta, known as Facebook. Their parent company is Meta and also Twitter, known as X. What we don’t know is if they have succeeded in serving them,” Sowore stated.
One of Sowore’s lawyers, Barrister Alex Okenta, told journalists that the Inspector-General of Police’s decision to file the case against the human rights activist only reinforced its illegality.
“Yeah, as you can see, we lawyers are always ready. The matter came up today, and the court is not sitting. We will be back here again on the 3rd of December to follow up on the matter. You should know that the matter was just filed, and it will go nowhere. Calling someone illegal is not actionable. This is what we argue in court every day. We come to court to argue whether an action, an entity, a person is legal or illegal,” he said.
“For calling a situation, event, and person illegal. Yes. If you are called illegal. It behooves you to show that you are legal. But what we are seeing is a reinforcement of the illegality.
“It is a reinforcement of the illegality. There is no other possible interpretation. And just as a lawyer has said. If we are not accorded justice, we will accord justice.
“We will bring justice to the system. We will bring justice to the court. It must happen. It is just a matter of time. You know, the calibre of leaders we have today? Leaders who do not think of tomorrow. They are so myopic. They do not think of the aftermath of their actions.”
He continued, “If you begin to litter the court with all manner of cases, how do you expect the judges to even do their work?
“You harass someone, you detain him. Instead of going after Boko Haram and bandits, you are going after a freedom fighter. Is that not pitiful? Do you need a soothsayer to tell you that these people are here to serve their own interests, which they cannot even serve because they are not even doing it in a way that their children will be able to live in this country today.”
On July 21, SaharaReporters similarly reported that Justice Liman failed to appear in court to hear a motion seeking the release of Sowore’s passport in a cybercrime case involving Egbetokun.
Sowore, who arrived at the court with his legal team by 8:45 a.m., discovered that his case was listed as number two on the court’s docket.
However, after waiting for the judge to arrive, court staff later informed him that Justice Liman had travelled to Bauchi to handle a matter for which he had received a fiat.
No prior notice was given to either party or their legal representatives regarding the judge’s absence.
A source later told SaharaReporters that the judge’s absence was a “deliberate ploy to avoid hearing the motion”.
The incident marked the third time the judge had scheduled a hearing on Sowore’s motion only to be absent on the date of proceedings.
On a previous occasion, Justice Liman was said to be attending a conference in Lagos.
