A Federal High Court has granted bail to Chude Nnamdi, a social media influencer, in the sum of M10 million.
Nnamdi was arraigned before Justice Gladys Olotu and pleaded not guilty to a charge of cyberstalking.
The Inspector-General of Police had sued Chude as the sole defendant in the case. In an amended charge filed on April 17, the police alleged that Nnamdi knowingly and intentionally sent a false message through a tweet from his Twitter handle for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, or needless anxiety to the person of Dr. Emeka Offor, thereby committing cyberstalking punishable under Section 24 (1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.
The prosecuting counsel, Victor Okoye, informed the court that he had an amended charge and made an oral application to substitute the initial charge filed in March with the present charge.
However, Gabriel Chikwado-Eze, who appeared for Chude, opposed the request, arguing that Okoye could not arraign Nnamdi with the fresh charge, having not been served with the charge.
Okoye disagreed with Chikwado-Eze, and Justice Olotu granted the application, allowing Nnamdi to plead not guilty to the one count charge.
Chikwado-Eze objected to the prosecutor’s application that Chude be remanded in prison pending the conclusion of the trial, arguing that the offence was bailable and that Nnamdi had been on administrative bail for over a month and had not flouted bail conditions.
The judge admitted Chude to a N10 million bail with a surety, directing that the surety must depose to an affidavit of means. She adjourned the matter until May 17 for trial.
The Quest Times recalls that Chude was arrested in Anambra and transported to Abuja by officers attached to the police cybercrime unit.
The police later said the matter was linked to a tweet by Nnamdi that allegedly cast Chief Offor, a billionaire businessman, in an odious light.
In the tweet, Chude claimed that Offor had been engaged by the President-elect to beg Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, to accept the result of the February 25 election.
The Tweet read, “So @officialBAT called Emeka Offor to beg Peter Obi to accept the rigged result. If he is sure the people voted for APC and he won the election, why is he running around pleading with everyone to help beg Peter Obi to accept the result?.”