A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja has further remanded a social media content creator, Mr Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu, at the Keffi Correctional centre till Friday over alleged cybercrime.
The blogger is being prosecuted by the Police 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 defense counsel, the Police suppressed facts before the court granted the remand order, adding that the Police lied that they had filed a criminal charge against the applicant before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to him, “for the fact that the Police came to the 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 said the 14-day period for the applicant to be remanded has expired and there is no application for the renewal of the remand order.
Opposing the application for the bail of the applicant, Police Lawyer, Obiora Ejiofor, said there was no evidence placed before the court to warrant the exercise of its discretion to grant the applicant bail.
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He informed the court that the Police have filed a 4-count criminal charge against the applicant before the Federal High Court in Abuja because the Magistrate court has no 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 submitted.
Responding on point of law, Omorogbe told the court that the exhibits attached to the counter affidavit by the Police 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 said the Police did not exhibit any charge in all the processes filed before the court, saying that, there is no charge against the applicant in the face of the law.
The counsel said the remand order obtained illegally by the Police by gross suppression of facts has expired and that bail should be granted in case, the court is not persuaded to set aside the remand order.
After listening to the submissions of parties in the matter, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna adjourned till April 12, 2024, to rule on the application.
The problem with the social media content creator, also known as Ijele, started when the Police arrested him over his alleged threat to kill the founder and spiritual director of the Zion Prayer Movement.
In a video he posted on his Facebook page, Ofoegbu, appearing in military camouflage, threatened to kill Ebuka Obi and cut off his head. He also 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 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 Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the threat to the life of Evangelist Ebuka and cyber-bullying by the legal team of the church.
Subsequently, the police in Abuja invited Ofoegbu to their station for an alleged case of criminal intimidation, threat to life, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying. He is currently being remanded in prison custody pending his trial in court.
