Bowing to mounting pressure from the public space, Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has finally withdrawn the defamation case against a final-year student of Federal University Dutse in Jigawa state, Aminu Adamu Mohammed arrested for trolling her on Twitter.
Explaining the decision to back-pedal on her earlier uncompromising stance, the prosecution counsel, Fidelis Ogbobe, said following the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians, the First Lady, as the mother of the nation, agreed to withdraw the case against Aminu.
Ogbode said his client relied on Section 108 subsection 2(a) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to move the application for the withdrawal of the case.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Halilu Yusuf of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, in issuing the release warrant of Aminu, praised the First Lady for her ‘bold steps’ in forgiving the accused, even as he urged parents to closely monitor their children to avoid recurrence.
The President’s Wife has been in the news for ordering the arrest of Aminu over his Twitter post inputting that the First Lady was feeding fat on the poor people’s money under her husband’s watch.
Trust Nigerians, since news of Mohammed’s arrest broke last week, the social media space has been awash with commentaries and scathing criticisms by politicians, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), celebrities, social media influencers, and media commentators among other well-meaning Nigerians on Aminu’s plight.
Aminu was reportedly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment by the Police as he faced charges of defamation of the character of Nigeria’s First Lady. He had tweeted a photo of Mrs Buhari with a caption in Hausa which translates to: “Mama is feeding fat on poor people’s money.”
The hitherto incarcerated student’s picture also appeared online showing his left fingers in bad shape after being released by Police.
Though the tweet was posted on 9 June 2022, Aminu was arrested earlier this month when the tweet went viral and he was remanded in the Suleja correctional facility in Niger State on Tuesday after being charged to court by the police.
His lawyer, C.K. Agu also confirmed to BBC Hausa Service that the case against Aminu has been withdrawn by the Police.
