Amidst pressure, Nigeria’s First Lady withdraws case against student critic
Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has withdrawn the defamatory case against Aminu Adamu, a final year student of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State.
Adamu, 24, was arrested by the police in Dutse for allegedly making a defamatory statement on his Twitter handle against Mrs Buhari.
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In the allegedly offending tweet, posted on June 8, 2022, Adamu, who is studying Environmental Management, posted a picture of Mrs Buhari with a caption in Hausa saying, “Mama is feeding fat on poor people’s money.
Adamu was arraigned on Tuesday, before Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, where he pleaded not guilty and was remanded at the Suleja prison in Niger State.
But withdrawing the case against Adamu on Friday, the prosecution counsel, Fidelis Ogbobe, said following the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians, Mrs Buhari had withdrawn the case.
The First Lady had been under pressure since she ordered the arrest of the young man with different agencies, stidents’ politicians and human rights activists calling on her to release Adamu from detension.
Ogbobe moved the application for the withdrawal of the case, pursuant to Section 108, subsection 2(a) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court commended Mrs Buhari for taking the “bold steps” to forgive the accused.
He called on parents to always monitor their children to avoid recurrence.
