The Nigeria Police on Monday re-arraigned four bloggers – Precious Eze, Olawale Rotimi, Rowland Olonishuwa, and Seun Odunlami, on fresh charges before the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly cyberstalking and publishing false allegations through various social media outlets against the Guaranty Trust Holding Company.
The defendants are facing 10 counts bordering on conspiracy, cyberstalking, false and misleading publication, extortion, threat, and loss of shares and market value preferred against them by the Police.
The defendants were initially arraigned on September 27, 2024, before the court on two counts of cyberstalking and false publications and spreading false information aimed at insulting the Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC, Segun Agbaje.
After they took their pleas, Justice Ayokunle Faji ordered that they be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
However, when the case came up on Monday, the police prosecutor, Ajibola Aribisala (SAN), leading Olaotan Ajose-Adeogun (SAN), told the court that the charges against the defendants had been amended to 10 counts.
He said he got a fiat from the Inspector General of Police to prosecute the case.
Justice Faji, however, struck out the initial charges against them.
Aribisala then urged the court to allow the fresh charges to be read to the defendants.
The prosecutor told the court that the defendants and others still at large conspired to commit the alleged offences.
He said that the incident occurred sometime in August 2024, in Lagos State.
Aribisala told the court that the defendants conspired amongst themselves to cyberstalk and attempt to publish false, misleading, and unsubstantiated allegations which they all knew to be false, through various social media outlets against the Guaranty Trust Holding Company, its management, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the entire banking system in Nigeria to cause a breakdown of law and order.
He said the defendants published the false publications with the intention to use the allegations to cause harm to the reputation of the Guaranty Trust Holding Company, its management, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the entire banking system in Nigeria.
The prosecutor further told the court that the defendants attempted to publish false, misleading, and unsubstantiated allegations against the GTCO, its management, the CBN, and the entire banking system in Nigeria to use the allegations to extort the Guaranty Trust Holding Company.
Aribisala said the defendants with intent to defraud concocted false, misleading, and unsubstantiated allegations through various social media outlets against the GTCO, its management, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the entire banking system in Nigeria to use the allegations to affect the market value of the shares of the company by causing them to lose value considerably.
He said the defendants threatened to extort the GTCO by concocting false, misleading, and unsubstantiated allegations through various social media outlets against it to use the allegations to threaten and extort Guaranty Trust Holding Company and its management.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 27 (1) (a), (b),24 (1)(b), and 24 (2) (c) (ii) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (as amended).
The offences are punishable under Sections 422,507, and 408 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (as amended).
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Justice Faji ordered that the defendants be remanded at the correctional centre pending the filing and hearing of their bail applications.
Earlier, the defendant’s counsel, Olakunle Afolabi, told the court that he was objecting to the charge and needed time to go through the fresh amended charges.
He also gave a condition that if the defendants were arraigned on fresh charges, he would apply for their bail orally, but the judge said he would not allow oral bail application.
Aribisala, in his response, said he was concerned about the liberty of the defendants as a human rights lawyer.
Consequently, Afolabi withdrew the objection, and the charge was read to the defendants.
The judge directed the prosecution to file the proof of evidence by the next adjourned date.
The case was adjourned till October 24, 2024, for the defence to file the bail application and serve the prosecution.
@The PUNCH