Court dismisses suit against Twitter user charged for threatening to ‘kill’ Buhari
Presiding judge of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Folashade Giwa- Ogunbanjo, Monday, dismissed a suit filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Office of Attorney General of Federation (OAGF) against a Twitter user who allegedly threatened to ‘kill’ President Muhammadu Buhari.
The judge ruled that the suit was defective, and ordered that the prosecutor return the case file to the DPP.
However, the judge did not rule on whether the accused, a 29-year-old pharmacist, Solomon Akuma, be released from prison custody, having spent 11 months for the trial to conclude.
Akuma had allegedly tweeted he would ‘pay a Russian sniper to kill Buhari and his former Chief of Staff, the late Abba Kyari.’
The judge said there was no valid charge before the court and that the matter was not diligently prosecuted.
She said the case file would be returned to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the office of Attorney General of Federation for further action.
However, the judge added that the judgement does not give protection to the defendant from future investigation.
The defence counsel, Emmanuel Ukaegbu prayed the court to discharge the defendant who was in a correctional centre.
Ukaegbu said his client should be released since the matter has been struck out.
The judge, therefore, asked the defence counsel to make a formal application to that effect.
Akuma was abducted and had been detained at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, for over 11 months.
Activists, lawyers and civil society groups have condemned Akuma’s continued detention and called for his release, saying he did not commit any crime to warrant such a punishment.
Akuma’s tweets were in response to a Twitter post asking respondents what their next move would be if they got $1 million.
