A Chief Magistrate Court in Sokoto has stopped journalists from covering court proceedings in the case of Shafi’u Umar Tureta, the special assistant on media to former governor of Sokoto, Aminu Tambuwal, who was accused of spreading media contents against Gov. Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto.
Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party in the state has condemned the arrest of the suspect by authorities of Nigerian Police Force in Sokoto while calling for his immediate release.
The spokesperson in a statement signed and made available to newsmen on Sunday night said, “Our Party understands that Tureta was arrested on the orders of the Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu for sharing a viral video clip of the Governor struggling to make a statement in English Language and another equally nationally well-circulated clip of cash spray at the Governor’s wife’s birthday party.
“We first of all, wish to draw the attention of the Governor to the fact that the visuals in question must have been recorded by camera men attached to his own office or his family and initially leaked to the public by the same personnel”
Meanwhile, during his arrangement on Monday at Magistrate Court “1′, journalists from both national and international media organizations were locked out of the Magistrate’s chamber on the alleged order of the trial Judge, Chief Magistrate Fati Hassan.
The suspect was allegedly accused of spreading unlawful media content and was detained by police on Aug. 25, 2024, before his first arraignment at the court on Monday.
In a First Information Report (FIR), read by Prosecutor, Insp. Abdurahman Mansur, the accused person was charged with circulating injurious falsehood and engraving matter known to be defamatory, the offences that contravene penal code law.
According to the FIR, the accused person committed the offences on July 18, 2024, when he circulated the videos of Governor’s wife, Hajia Fatima Aliyu, spreading money on ground during her birthday ceremony in spite of present hunger and hardships faced by citizens.
Umar was also allegedly accused of sharing a document that indicated that Gov. Aliyu failed his Senior Secondary School Examination as he scored F9 and was not capable of speaking English fluently.
In an interview with the Defence Counsel, Mr Al’Mustafa Abubakar, after the sitting, he told newsmen that Umar denied the charges and made oral application for his bail.
Abubakar said the Chief Magistrate adjourned the ruling on bail application to Sept. 6, 2024, and remanded the accused person in correctional center custody.
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