UPDATE 3-Nigeria releases Sowore and Dasuki after AG orders bail

* Nigerian ex-natl security adviser Dasuki held since 2015
* Ex-presidential candidate Sowore's re-arrest sparked
protests
* Domestic, international pressure grew to obey court orders

(Adds release of the prisoners)
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Nigerian activist Omoyele Sowore
and former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki left prison
Tuesday evening after the attorney general ordered their
release on bail, in recognition of court orders.
The release followed growing internal and international
pressure on the Nigerian government to abide by court orders.
State security had ignored several court orders that former
adviser Dasuki, who has been held since 2015, be released. It
also sparked protests earlier this month when it re-arrested
activist and former presidential candidate Sowore hours after
his release on bail. Dasuki left prison at roughly 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Tuesday
and joined his family at his home in the Asokoro district of
Abuja. Sowore was released earlier in the evening, greeting
jubilant supporters.
"The two defendants are enjoined to observe the terms of
their bail and refrain from engaging in any act that is inimical
to public peace and national security as well as their ongoing
trial which will run its course in accordance with the laws of
the land," Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami
said in a statement.
The government has accused Dasuki, who served under former
President Goodluck Jonathan, of fraud involving $68 million of
defence spending. He has pleaded not guilty. (https:// Dasuki has been granted bail several times but the
government had refused to release him. In 2016, a judge at the
court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
ordered his release, saying his detention was unlawful and
arbitrary. (https:// Sowore, who also founded news website Sahara Reporters, was
first arrested in August. He has pleaded not guilty to charges
of treason, money laundering and harassing the president.
Video of Sowore screaming and shouting as he was wrestled to
the ground by security officials in court, only hours after his
initial release on bail, circulated widely on social media in
Nigeria and internationally.
"While I am grateful for reports on Yele's long overdue
release on bail, my number one concern is for his safety,"
Sowore's wife, Opeyemi Sowore, said in an emailed statement. "We
remain resolute on Yele being cleared of all baseless charges."
On Monday, the government's own National Human Rights
Commission called on the administration to respect court
rulings. Six U.S. members of Congress, including Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer, also wrote to Malami on Dec. 20 that they
were "deeply concerned that established legal procedure and the
rule of law" were not being followed in Sowore's case.
Nigerian advocacy group SERAP also hailed the move, but
called on the government to release others it described as
unfairly detained, including journalist Agba Jalingo.
"The government cannot continue to pick and choose which
court orders to obey," it said.