Court orders remand of lawyer, 4 others at Force CID for cyber bullying Senator Umar

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After arraigning Ahmed Abdulrahman and four other individuals for allegedly cyberbullying Shehu Baba Umar, a serving senator, Justice Rita Offili Ajumogobia has ordered that they be held at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Area 10 Abuja till November 10.

The lawyer and four other defendants—Daure David, Ishaq Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulrashid Abdullahi Musa, and Nasiru Usman Abubakar—were put on trial by the Inspector General of Police, or IGP, on Thursday for allegedly blackmailing the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence.

The IGP punished them on an eleven-count charge that included extortion, advance fee fraud, and cyberbullying.

The attorney and the other four defendants, however, entered not guilty pleas to the allegations when they were read in front of Justice Rita Offili Ajumogobia.

Victor Okoye, the prosecution’s counsel, requested a trial date and the custody of the defendants to the Kuje jail in Abuja after the lawyer and his co-defendants entered a not guilty plea.

However, Affis Matanmi, the lawyer’s counsel, filed a bail application on behalf of his client, claiming that the client is a Supreme Court lawyer who, if granted bail, will not obstruct police investigations or witnesses.

He reminded the court that the first defendant was given administrative bail by the police on their own, but he did not jump it since, as an attorney, he is aware of the repercussions of doing so.

Victor Okoye, the prosecution’s attorney, fiercely contested the bail request, telling the court that the lawyer had participated in two additional instances of cyberbullying shortly after being granted bail and that he was a major character in five of the eleven count allegations.

Okoye contended that even though the first defendant is a licensed attorney, he should not be given preferential or special treatment because neither the 1999 Constitution nor the Administration of Criminal Justice Act contain any clause that would give any lawyer involved in criminal activity preferential treatment.

After hearing arguments for and against the bail request, Justice Ajumogobia ordered the defendants to be remanded at the Force CID until November 10 so that the first defendant’s attorney could file additional affidavits and respond legally to the serious accusations made in the prosecution’s counter-affidavit.

The judge then postponed the case until November 10.

The defendants were accused in count one of conspiring “to commit an offense, to wit; cyberstalking against Senator Shehu Buba Umar” at some point in 2025.

According to the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024, the offense is punished under Section 21(1)(b) and is in violation of Section 27(1)(b).

In count three, the first defendant, Abdulrahman, was accused of purposefully sending a video through his YouTube channel and Tiktok handle, “Kibanna Channel,” sometime in 2025 to disparage the lawmaker by associating him with funding banditry in an effort to damage his reputation as a sitting 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 offense Among other things, it is alleged to violate Section 24(1)(5) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 (as amended) 2024.

Daure David was charged in one of the counts with trying to obtain N5 million from Senator Umar on the false premise that the funds would be used to compensate those who intended to demonstrate against him.

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