The intervention of International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) has paved way for the release of a Nigerian journalist, Ibraheem Hamza Mohammed from prison after he was accused of falsely publishing that N40 million was stolen from Governor Abdullahi Sule’s bedroom.
Penpushing reports that the Nasarawa State Police Command arrested Mohammed on May 1, 2024 over the report published on February 22, 2024 on FirstNews, a Lagos-based online newspaper, and the police then charged him with violation of the Cybercrime Act.
The Nasarawa State Police Command thereafter secured an order for his remand at the Medium Security Custodian Centre in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, pending the commencement of trial, however, following intervention Nigerian National Committee of the Press Institute the journalist was released Friday after a Nasarawa High Court sitting in Doma granted him bail.
Penpushing further reports that he spent 10 days in jail, and will remain on bail till May 13, 2024 when the police are expected to withdraw the charges against him and discontinue the trial, and securing his release the institute delegation led by the President, Musikilu Mojeed, visited Lafia on May, 6, 2024.
The team met with top officials of the Nasarawa State government, including Governor Sule, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Labaran Magaji and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ibrahim Addra, and equally took time to visit and conferred with the journalist in prison.
Penpushing also reports that the management of FirstNews has apologised to Governor Sule over the story, saying it has since found that the said story lacked any form of truth in it and that the reporter merely concocted the story in his bid to pursue a personal vendetta against the governor.
“While tendering an unreserved apology to the Nasarawa State Governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, we wish to assure him that such will not repeat itself ever again,” the newspaper management added.
‘Meanwhile, the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria has admonished Nigerian journalists to always uphold the ethics of their profession, desist from publishing false news, and continue to observe a high degree of standard in their practice.
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