Headlines
Court Turns Down DSS Request, Orders Immediate Release of Sowore
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday ordered the release of the convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore. Justice Taiwa Taiwo, who gave the order, urged the Department of State Services (DSS) to release Sowore to his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), who must produce the accused person whenever the court wants him to appear over charges brought against him.
Sowore, who is the publisher of the news website, Sahara Reporters, and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 election, was arrested on August 3 by the DSS, two days before his planned rally tagged RevolutionNow. A few days after his arrest and detention, precisely on August 8, the DSS obtained permission of the Federal High Court to detain him in its custody for another 90 days for alleged terrorism offence, but the court granted 45 days.
Efforts by Sowore and his counsel to abridge the time proved abortive as the court declined to hear their plea. Falana had tried to explain to the court that it was misled by the DSS into granting the request. Although the court had fixed that day for hearing on the application, Justice Nkeonye Maha, however, refused every move to entertain the motion on the ground that she lacked the power to vacate or review an order made by a court of equal jurisdiction. “The court has given an order; do I have the power to set aside (an) order of a court of equal jurisdiction?”
Justice Maha held that since Justice Taiwo, who granted the order would be back soon, Falana should return to him or rather channel his application to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.But Falana insisted that even though the other party was asking for adjournment, the court had the power to abridge the date. “My Lordship will do justice to the matter, otherwise, the man will be there for 40 days, which is not in the interest of justice,” he prayed.
With the failure of that plea, the activist Sowore spent the whole 45 days in the DSS custody. But yesterday, the parties returned to the same Justice Taiwo, who ordered an immediate release of Sowore to his lawyer. The judge, however, held that since the charges of terrorism had already been filed against Sowore, he must deposit his international passport and other travel documents to the court to guarantee his availability for trial.
Earlier, Justice Taiwo stood down the case after hearing arguments from both parties. Falana had argued that the order issued by the court on August 8, permitting the DSS to hold the activist for 45 days had expired on September 21. He, therefore, prayed the court to issue a consequential order releasing Sowore from the custody of DSS.
But the counsel to DSS, G.O Agbadua, told the court that since the charges had been filed against the activist on September 20, it was lawful to continue to keep him until arraignment. Falana kicked against Agbadua’s position on the ground that the filing of charges could not metamorphose into a detention order, adding that a citizen could not detain a citizen in anticipation of arraignment.
Agbadua had earlier withdrawn the application filed by the DSS seeking the extension of the period of detention of Sowore for another 20 days. He based his request on the ground that charges had been filed against the activist. Consequently, Falana withdrew Sowore’s application for bail on the ground that the application had become an academic exercise since the order of detention had expired.
With the expiration of the detention order and the withdrawal of the DSS’ request to further keep Sowore in custody, Falana, therefore, urged the court to order the release of his client.Justice Taiwo, in his ruling, agreed with Falana and consequently, ordered the immediate release of Sowore from custody.In a reaction to the ruling, the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere described it as a courageous demonstration by the court.
The Guardian
The Super Eagles’ 2026 World Cup dream suffered a major blow on Sunday as DR Congo advanced to the intercontinental playoff following a dramatic penalty shootout at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying ended in heartbreaking fashion, marking the second consecutive year the Super Eagles will miss out on the world stage.
The match ended 1–1 after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time, sending the high-stakes encounter to penalties.
Nigeria initially went ahead through Frank Onyeka in the third minute, but DR Congo equalised in the 32nd minute through M. Elia.
The tension continued into the penalty shootout.
Nigeria’s Calvin Bassey and Moses Simon missed early chances, while Nwabali denied DR Congo’s first penalty.
Akor Adams kept the Super Eagles alive, but DR Congo struck back through Sadique and later scored the decisive fourth penalty, leaving Nigeria trailing 4–3 in the shootout.
The victory sets up DR Congo for a chance to secure one of the final World Cup tickets to the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Nigeria’s defeat marked the second consecutive year the Super Eagles will miss out on the world stage.
Both teams had earned their places in the final after dramatic semi-finals.
Nigeria had booked their place in the final with a dramatic 4–1 extra-time win over Gabon in Thursday’s semi-final at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium.
DR Congo also advanced with a 1–0 victory over Cameroon at the Al Barid Stadium the same evening.
The Leopards now await their intercontinental playoff opponent, keeping alive their hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup, while the Super Eagles’ campaign comes to an agonising end in Rabat.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
Their expulsion was announced on Saturday at the party’s National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has insisted that there is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria, hence demanding end to the alleged Christian killings.
Speaking on Thursday after an emergency executive meeting of the Fellowship held at its national headquarters in Lagos, PFN President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said the body would no longer remain silent while Christians are “targeted, killed, raped, and displaced” across the country.
He said: “There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria. If we call it by any other name, it will bring Nigeria down. We are crying out to our international friends, beginning with America and Donald Trump. Whatever you can do to help our government put an end to it, come quickly and get it done. When on Christmas Day, Christmas Day was turned a bloody day in Benue State, and hundreds were massacred. And we are to be conducting mass funerals when we are not in open conflict. What do you call that? And this is different from individual cases.
“Let us call a spade a spade. There is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria,”Bishop Oke declared.
“Even while we speak, killings are still taking place in Borno, Plateau, and Benue states. When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogon Noma in Plateau, what do we call that? When Christmas Day turned into a bloody day in Benue, with hundreds massacred, what name should we give it?
While noting that the United States President Donald Trump spoke the truth, the PRN President cited the case of Leah Sharibu who was abducted alongside other Chibok girls and has since remained in captivity.
“Like the case of Leah Sharibu. Where is Leah Sharibu? Like the case of Deborah that was lynched and burned alive in Sokoto? What about that? And several of our girls were kidnapped and forced, given out as wives by force without the consent of their parents and their Christian parents. And the Christian parents would not see them for years.And this has been going on. We have been talking and we are not taking it seriously. And it has been going on again and again, until Donald Trump now spoke. And Donald Trump spoke the truth. There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria.
“Like you will have picked in the news, even since this narrative began, killing was still going on in Borno, in Plateau, in Benue, up until yesterday. What are we saying? When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogonaya in Plateau State, what do we call that? And for no offense other than they are Christians.”
Oke recalled that the Christian community had repeatedly called the attention of the government to the alleged genocide with no decisive action from the authority.
The cleric expressed his backing for President Trump’s intervention, adding that Trump only echoed what Nigerian Christians had been saying for year
“I was part of the team that went to see the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. We spoke very strongly about this and the President listened to us, but he completely ignored the main issue we came for, If we came and spoke with such vehemence, with such passion, and then you pick the peripheral matter and left this matter alone, I knew that day that his government was complicit in what was going on,” he added.
Oke alleged that the killings across parts of Nigeria were systematic and targeted on Christians, lamenting that the killings had continued unchecked despite repeated appeals from the Church.
“The evidence is all over the place. There is nothing anybody can say that can whitewash it. It is evil, it is blood shedding, it is mass murder and it is genocide. The time to stop it is now. That is what the church in Nigeria is saying with one voice.
“Christians in this nation must be free to practice their faith in any part of Nigeria as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
“These armed bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all of them using Islam as a cover. We have been living in peace with our Muslim brothers for a long, until this violent Islamic sect came up with an intent to make sure they impose Sharia on all Nigerians,” Oke said.
Bishop Oke called on President Bola Tinubu to decisively overhaul the nation’s security architecture, and ensure justice for victims of religious violence. He questioned why those responsible for notorious attacks—such as the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto and the abduction of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok schoolgirls—remain unpunished.
“The government should prove by action, not words, that it is not complicit,” he said. “When hundreds are buried in mass graves and the whole world sees it, who can deny it? Why should we play politics with the blood of Nigerians?”
The PFN urged President Tinubu’s administration to rebuild trust by ensuring that the security architecture of the country is not infiltrated by those sympathetic to extremist ideologies.
Oke further condemned the government’s rehabilitation of so-called “repentant terrorists,” describing the move as a grave security.
He assured Christians that the PFN would continue to speak out until the killings stop. “We are not going to keep quiet. We will keep raising our voices until justice is done and every Nigerian, regardless of faith, can live in peace. The truth may be suppressed for a time, but it cannot be buried forever,” he said.
The meeting, which drew PFN leaders from across the country, reaffirmed the body’s commitment to national unity, peace, and the protection of fundamental human rights, while urging the media to “side with the oppressed” and report the truth without fear or bias.
