This archive report was first published on 24 December 2019.
December 24, 2019, marked a significant day for Omoyele Sowore, a prominent Nigerian journalist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, as he was finally freed on bail after months of detention.
According to reports, Sowore was accused of treason and other crimes after calling for mass protests against the government, but his rearrest on December 5 sparked an outcry among local and international activists who accuse the government of swerving towards authoritarianism.
Attorney General Abubakar Malami intervened, directing the State Security Services to comply with an earlier court order granting bail to Sowore and another detainee, former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki.
Dasuki has been in detention since 2015, despite multiple court orders for his bail release, over claims he misused roughly $2 billion (1.8 billion euros) in defence funds earmarked for the fight against Islamic militant group Boko Haram.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been in power since 2015, promised to end graft in Africa's most populous country, but critics accuse him of carrying out a witch hunt against his opponents.
