…As CLOs Demand Her Immediate, Unconditional Release
The Federal High Court sitting at Ikoyi, Lagos State, on Monday, March 16, 2026, granted bail to a UK-based journalist, Maureen Omorinola Badejo, in the sum of N50 million, with two sureties.
Badejo, a UK-based Nigerian journalist and publisher of GIOTV, is being tried for defamation.
Speaking to journalists, the Legal Counsel to Badejo, Dr. Yinka Owoeye, stated that aside the N50 million and two sureties, his client was further required to drop her passport.
He said, “I won’t be able to give you all the details of the requirements of the bail conditions, however, we’re asked to bring two sureties and the amount of N50 million. The sureties, one of whom must be a relative, must have property; if neither has property, they must be level 14 officers in the ministry. There are other requirements like an affidavit of means.”
He further disclosed that the court noted that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, so, regardless of the number of counts, since the matter hasn’t been tried, the defendant is presumed innocent under the law.
Meanwhile, a Coalition of Civil Liberty Organisations (CLOs), made up of Centre for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Centre For Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL); Citizens Rights Advocacy Group (CIRAG); Access to Advocacy And Rights of the People (ACARP); Advocates in Defence of Human Rights and Culture (ADHURIC), and Health and Human Rights Initiative, had gathered in their numbers at the Federal High Court to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Badejo.
Comrade Olusola Onagunwa, leader of the group, which staged a peaceful protest in the court premises, demanding the immediate release of Badejo, said, “We’re here for Maureen Badejo, we want to make sure that the fundamental rights of Maureen are protected under the law. Our focus is that if somebody alleges, the person should be able to prove it in court, and then, when you’re able to prove it, you assert. As it is by the provision of the law, when somebody says you have done something and you say, no, I haven’t done it, our law gives room for the one who alleges that you’ve done something to be able to bring all the facts and evidence before the court. When the court looks at the facts that they’re relevant to what the prosecution is presenting, it would say, yes, you’re guilty. But when the court examines the facts and finds they’re fabricated, it will discharge the defendant. Our hope in this case is that Maureen Badejo is going to be discharged and acquitted.”
The group had earlier written to the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Lagos State Office, and copied the Inspector-General of Police, Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, and decried what it called perpetual persecution, judicial ambush, and unlawful detention of Ms. Badejo.
They said, “We, the undersigned coalition of civil society organisations based in Lagos State, write to urgently bring to your esteemed Commission’s attention, a grave violation of fundamental human rights perpetrated by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) against Ms. Maureen Omorinola Badejo, a UK-based Nigerian journalist and publisher of GIOTV.”
The Coalition said it has been monitoring the case proceedings with grave concern. “It’s evident that the full weight of the state is being deployed not to ensure a fair trial, but to punish Ms. Badejo for her journalistic work. This amounts to a judicial ambush—a tactic designed to wear down the defendant through incarceration and legal attrition. The following points underscore our alarm: Weaponisation of the Cybercrime Act. Ms. Badejo is the latest victim of a dangerous trend in which Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act is used to criminalise free expression. This law has been widely condemned by bodies like SERAP and the Nigerian Guild of Editors for its use in harassing journalists and activists, effectively turning minor disputes into state-sponsored persecution. Just recently, the Federal High Court affirmed this principle, awarding damages against the police for unlawfully declaring activist Omoyele Sowore “wanted”, a clear judicial rebuke of police lawlessness that this Coalition finds shockingly disregarded in the present ca
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