Court Keeps Lawyer, 4 Others Behind Bars For Cyberbullying
By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice Rita Offili Ajumogobia has ordered that a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court, Ahmed Abdulrahman, and four others be kept behind bars at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Area 10 Abuja, till November 10, over the alleged cyberbullying of a serving senator, Shehu Buba Umar.
Justice Ajumogobia made the remand order after the lawyer and four others were arraigned by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for allegedly blackmailing the Senate Committee Chairman on National Security and Intelligence.
The other defendants are Daure David, Ishaq Abubakar Muhammed, Abdulrashid Abdullahi Musa and Nasiru Usman Abubakar.
They were charged on an eleven-count charge bordering on cyberbullying, advance fee fraud and extortion.
However, when the charges were read before Justice Rita Offili Ajumogobia, the lawyer and the other four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Upon the not guilty plea of the lawyer and his co-defendants, counsel to the prosecution, Victor Okoye, asked for a date for trial and that the defendants be remanded at the Kuje Prison, Abuja.
Counsel to the lawyer, Affis Matanmi, however, prayed the court to release him on bail pending trial on the grounds that, being a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court, he would not interfere with police investigation and witnesses if admitted to bail.
He informed the court that police, on their own, granted the first defendant administrative bail which he did not jump because, as a lawyer, he knows the consequences of jumping bail.
Responding, the prosecution counsel, Victor Okoye, opposed the bail application.
He informed the court that shortly after the lawyer was admitted to administrative bail, he engaged in two other cyberbullying acts and also featured prominently in five of the eleven-count charges.
Okoye argued that, although the first defendant is a legal practitioner, he does not deserve any preferential or special treatment because there is no provision in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the 1999 Constitution that confers any special treatment on any legal practitioner involved in acts of criminality.
After taking arguments for and against the bail application, Justice Ajumogobia ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Force CID till November 10 for the lawyer to the first defendant to file further affidavit and reply on point of law to the weighty allegations contained in the counter affidavit of the prosecution.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till November 10.
In count one, the defendants were alleged to have, sometime in 2025, conspired among themselves “to commit an offence, to wit; cyberstalking against Senator Shehu Buba Umar.”
The offence is said to be contrary to Section 27(1)(b) and punishable under Section 21(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024.
In count three, Abdulrahman, the 1st defendant, was alleged to have, sometime in 2025, intentionally sent a video via his TikTok handle with user name “Kibanna Channel” and his YouTube channel to defame the lawmaker by linking him to sponsorship of banditry with a view to tarnishing his image as a serving senator.
The suspect was alleged to have stated that “Senator Umar, a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sponsor of banditry and called for his investigation, a statement you made by means of computer systems and network knowing same to be false, for the purpose of causing breakdown of law and order and causing the Senator fear of death.
The offence is also said to be contrary to Section 24(1)(5) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024, among other counts.
In one of the counts, Daure David was accused of attempting to collect N5 million from Senator Umar under false pretence that the money would be used to settle those planning to protest against him.
