Fake news: Kogi court remands man in DSS custody

…Rules on bail application TuesdayA Magistrate’s Court 1 sitting in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, has adjourned till Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to determine the application for bail for one Habib Rabiu accused of spreading fake news.

It would be recalled that the defendant alleged, through his Facebook account, that fever was killing people in Kogi state, a situation that raised public anxiety.

The Magistrate Court 1, Presided over by O. Joel Omajali, also asked that the accused be remanded in the Department of State Services (DSS) facility.

The accused, a 35-year-old native of Ayingba, was accused of spreading fake news capable of causing public disturbances.

The matter which came up Friday between the state and Habib Rabiu saw the accused person pleading not guilty to the charge read against him about alleged offences said to have been committed on June 10, 2020.

The accused was said to have created injurious falsehood, stating that people were dying of an alarming rate of fever, indirectly indicating that there was Covid-19 in the state contrary to the position of the state government on the matter.

In his argument, the Kogi state director of prosecution, Habib Abdullahi, said having made confession to the allegations and indicted other persons at large, granting the accused person bail would tamper with the ongoing investigation by the DSS, and, therefore, asked the court to refuse the bail application.

Supporting her argument for bail, the counsel to the defendant, Deborah A. Olorunmaiye, said the offence committed was bailable, with the court having a wide discretion, and pleaded with the court to grant the accused person bail.

But in her ruling, the trial judge Omajali said having meticulously listened to the argument of the counsels, the offence committed was bailable, but in order to safeguard public peace, adjourned the matter till Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to rule on the application for bail.

She consequently remanded the accused to the custody of the DSS facility for further investigations and adjourned the matter till Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to determine the application for bail.

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