A Dutse Magistrates’ Court has sentenced one Sabi’u Ibrahim Chamo to six- month imprisonment for insulting and defaming Jigawa State Governor, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar’s character on Facebook.
The Chief Magistrates’ Court 1 sitting in Dutse and presided over by Batula Dauda gave Chamo an alternative of N20,000 fine with 20 strokes of cane for defaming the governor.
Chamo was first arrested on Christmas Eve and detained before he was charged to court for failure to substantiate the allegations he made on Facebook.
The police prosecutor told the court that he was arraigned over an allegation he made that the governor defrauded many All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants by collecting money to give them party tickets.
The convicted critic pleaded guilty to the charge and the court sentenced him to six months in prison, with alternative to pay N20,000 as fine and 20 strokes of the cane to serve as a deterrent to others.
In June 2017, a critic of the governor, Zakari Kafin Hausa, was arrested and detained for several days for criticizing the governor on social media.
In a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Zainab Baba Santali, the fact of the case was that Sabi’u Chamo had made a post on his Facebook page and made a malicious statement about the governor. During the trial, after the first information was read to the defendant, he pleaded guilty to the offence and the court sentenced him.
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