Chude Nnamdi, supporter of Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was on Thursday granted bail in the sum of N10 million by a Federal High Court, Abuja.
Nnamdi, who was arraigned before Justice Gladys Olotu, had pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of cyberstalking.
Chude’s travails began around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 18, 2023 when he was arrested by the Cyber Crime Unit of Interpol in Onitsha and swiftly taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Awka from where he was taken to Abuja.
At his arraignment in Abuja, Justice Olotu ordered Nnamdi to also produce one surety, who must be a level 14 civil servant or a resident of the FCT with verified landed property.
The Inspector-General of Police, the complainant, had sued Nnamdi as a sole defendant in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/130/2023.
In the amended charge dated and filed on April 17, the police alleged that Nnamdi, on March 13 within the jurisdiction of the court did knowingly and intentionally send a message through a tweet from his Twitter handle “Chude” by means of computer system and network.
“That you know to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to the person of Dr Emeka Offor and thereby commit cyberstalking punishable under Section 24 (1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) ACT, 2015.”
Earlier when the matter was called for arraignment, the prosecuting counsel, Victor Okoye, informed that he had an amended charge.
Okoye, therefore, made an oral application to substitute the initial charge filed in March with the present charge but Gabriel Chikwado-Eze, who appeared for Ndamdi, opposed the request.
Chikwado-Eze argued that Okoye cannot arraign Nnamdi with the fresh charge, having not been served with the charge.
The lawyer, who opposed the oral application, said since the existing charge had not been served on them, Okoye cannot amend a non-existence charge.
Okoye disagreed with Chikwado-Eze on the ground that Nnamdi had never been arraigned before.
Justice Olotu then granted the application and Nnamdi, who was arraigned on one count, pleaded not guilty, and the prosecutor applied that he be remanded in prison pending the conclusion of the trial.
But Chikwado-Eze objected to the application on the ground that the offence, he was charged with, was a bailable offence under the law.
He also argued that Nnamdi had been on administrative bail for over a month and had not flouted the bail conditions.
The lawyer urged the court to grant him bail. The judge, who admitted Nnamdi to a N10 million bail with a surety, directed that the surety must be deposed to an affidavit of means.
She adjourned the matter until May 17 for trail.
Nnamdi was arrested in Anambra and transported to Abuja by officers attached to the police cybercrime unit.
The Police later said the matter was linked to a tweet by Nnamdi that allegedly cast Chief Offor, a billionaire businessman, in an odious light.
In the tweet, the defendant claimed that Offor had been engaged by the president-elect to beg Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, to accept the result of the Feb. 25 election.
The tweet read: “So @officialBAT called Emeka Offor to beg Peter Obi to accept the rigged result. If he is sure the people voted for APC and he won the election, why is he running around pleading with everyone to help beg Peter Obi to accept the result?”
