Kogi Court Jails Man Over False Facebook Post

A MAGISTRATE Court in Lokoja has sentenced one Habibu Achile Rabiu to two months imprisonment with option of N5,000 fine for posting false information on his Facebook timeline.

In her judgment Chief Magistrate A.A. Agatha held that Rabiu was guilty of raising false alarm which contravened Section 393 of the Kogi State Penal Code.

The Department of State Security (DSS) had arrested Rabiu over comments he made on his Facebook timeline.

In the post made during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Rabiu said the rate at which fever was killing people in Kogi State was alarming.

Following his arrest at Anyingba in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, he was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court 3 in Lokoja.

The prosecuting counsel M.A Abaji explained that the defendant’s false alarm created fear and incited people against the state government.

The defense counsel, E. A. Iwu, argued that the defendant acted based on emotion following the death of his sister who allegedly died as a result of malaria fever at that moment.

He explained that Rabiu was in a sad mood when he made the Facebook post.

But, in her judgment, Chief Magistrate A.A. Agatha found Rabiu guilty and sentenced him to two months in prison, with option of N5,000 fine.