Cyber Crime: Abuja court remands blogger in Keffi prison

An Abuja Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Wuse Zone 6, on Monday, further remanded a social media content creator, Mr. Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu, popularly known as Ijele Speaks, at Keffi Correctional Center following his alleged complicity in cybercrimes.
Nigeriacrime.com learned that Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna held that he should remain in custody till April 12, when the court will rule on his bail application.
The Nigeria Police Force, NPF, is prosecuting the blogger over alleged criminal intimidation, threat to life, cyberstalking and cyberbullying of the founder and spiritual director of Zion Prayer Movement, Evangelist Ebuka Obi.
When the matter came up on Monday, counsel to the social media content creator, Mr. Marvin Omorogbe, prayed the court to set aside the remand order granted against his client and order his release from the Keffi Correctional Center or in the alternative, admit him to bail.
According to the defence counsel, the Police suppressed facts that led the court to order the remand of the defendant.
He maintained that the Police lied that they had filed a criminal charge against the Applicant before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to him, “The fact that the Police came to court to lie on oath is enough reason to set aside the remand order. They misled the court into granting the remand order against the Applicant.”
Omorogbe argued that the 14 days that was earlier granted for the Applicant to be remanded, had expired, insisting that there was no application for the renewal of the remand order.
However, while opposing the bail application, police lawyer, Mr. Obiora Ejiofor, said there was no evidence placed before the court to warrant the exercise of its discretion in favour of the detainee.
He informed the court that the Police had filed a 4-count criminal charge against the Applicant before the Federal High Court in Abuja since the Magistrate court was bereft of the requisite jurisdiction to handle the offences levelled against the Applicant.
“We are waiting for a date by the Federal High Court to arraign the Applicant. The Police is a very responsible institution of government,” Ejiofor added.
Responding on points of law, Omorogbe told the court that exhibits police attached to the counter affidavit it filed to oppose the bail request, were forged.
“The purported wanted person notice was forged. That was why they made a photocopy of it to confuse the court. The court should not accord any value to the exhibits. The documents do not meet the minimum standard of the Evidence Act,” he submitted.
He equally argued that the police did not exhibit any charge in all the processes it brought before the Magistrate court.
The defence counsel contended that the remand order he said was illegally obtained by the police by gross suppression of facts, had since elapsed.
He, therefore, prayed the court to release his client on bail.
After he had listened to submissions by both sides, Chief Magistrate Iyanna adjourned the matter for ruling.
It will be recalled that the social media content creator was arrested over an allegation that he threatened to kill the founder and spiritual director of Zion Prayer Movement.
In a video he posted on his Facebook page, Ofoegbu, allegedly threatened to kill the cleric and cut off his head.
He allegedly equally threatened to kill any police officer who attempted to arrest him.
In another post, Ofoegbu carried a placard on which he wrote, “Evangelist Ebuka Obi is a criminal and liar” and tagged all the miracles in Zion Prayer Movement as deceits, urging the police to arrest him for turning his religious institution into a business enterprise.
The development led to the filing of a petition to the Inspection General of Police (IGP) on the threat to the life of Evangelist Ebuka Obi and cyber-bullying.
Based on the petition, the Applicant was arrested and detained in Abuja, by the police.