Alex Enumah in Abuja
A Federal High Court in Abuja, has granted bail of N50 million to activist and social media commentator, Mr Justice Chidiebere Mark, popularly known as “Justice Crack”, standing trial on alleged cybercrime.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who admitted him to bail, ordered him to produce a surety in like sum.
The defendant was recently arraigned on a three-count charge for allegedly making a false claim that Nigerian military personnel are poorly fed.
He is being accused of making a viral video post on his X handle (Justice crack) in which he allegedly made false claim that Nigerian military personnel are poorly.
Although, he pleaded not guilty to the charge, the court however ordered his remand in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), pending the filing and hearing of his bail application.
Meanwhile, as part of conditions for the bail, the court held that the surety must have been residing within the jurisdiction of the court at a fixed address for at least four years, and must deposit proof of residence, either through a tenancy agreement or certificate of occupancy, at the court registry.
The surety is also required to be a federal civil servant not below grade level 15, with evidence of at least three months’ salary, a letter of authentication from the immediate head of department, as well as proof of pensionable employment.
The court further directed that the surety must depose to an affidavit of means, submit a recent passport photograph, while the defendant is to deposit his international passport with the court.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel informed the court that the prosecution was ready to commence trial.
The first prosecution witness, identified as Uruntu Douglas, a DSS operative, told the court that he came to know the defendant during investigations after he was transferred to the DSS by the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps.
The witness said the defendant voluntarily made an extra-judicial statement which was recorded in the presence of his lawyers.
According to the witness, soldiers had sent pictures to the defendant, who allegedly made videos from the images and posted them on social media without confirming the authenticity of the materials from military sources.
He further told the court that investigators extracted data from the defendant’s phone, including videos allegedly posted online, conversations between the defendant and some soldiers, chats with his godfather allegedly discussing protests, as well as excerpts from his social media pages.
The witness added that a certificate of compliance was issued and signed by a superior officer after the forensic process was concluded.
During proceedings, defence counsel, Sam Amadi, informed the court that the defence had not been served with the investigation report and other documents sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
The prosecution, however, described the failure as an oversight and apologized before the court.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the DSS investigation report as Exhibit A.
The prosecution also tendered an iPhone allegedly recovered from the defendant, a flash drive said to contain videos posted on social media platforms, conversations extracted from the device, and the certificate of compliance.
The defence objected to the admissibility of the flash drive, arguing that its contents had not been described or played before the court.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the case to May 25, for continuation of trial.
