The tension began after Sowore’s legal team asked for a longer adjournment following the prosecution’s claim that it had closed its case. The request appeared to irritate the judge.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court on Monday lost his temper during proceedings in the trial of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, who is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for calling President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal.
The tension began after Sowore’s legal team asked for a longer adjournment following the prosecution’s claim that it had closed its case. The request appeared to irritate the judge.
During the proceedings, Sowore told the court that he would continue travelling across Nigeria to mobilise against President Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
Lead prosecutor Adeolu Kehinde, SAN, quickly moved to interrupt him.
At that point, Sowore’s lead counsel, Marshal Abubakar, rose to speak.
In an emotional intervention, the fiery young lawyer argued passionately that Nigeria’s future depended on the kind of progressive, leftist ideas Sowore represents, and suggested that the Federal Government was determined to send him to prison in order to shut him down and prevent him from participating in the upcoming elections.
Justice Umar, who had repeatedly indicated that he did not want further argument from Abubakar, then lost his cool and ordered the lawyer to step forward and kneel down as punishment for what he considered ‘contempt of court.’
But Abubakar refused and told the judge in muffled but persistent tone that kneeling down before a judge was unknown to Nigerian law and could not be imposed as a lawful punishment.
His response drew immediate concern in the courtroom, with several lawyers rising to appeal to the judge to calm down.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter to April 13, 2026, despite protests from Sowore’s lawyers, who argued that the date was inconvenient.
