The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted bail to activist and social media commentator, Justice Chidiebere, over alleged cybercrime offences.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, while ruling on the bail application, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N5m with one surety in like sum.
The judge ruled that the surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court for at least four years and provide proof of residence through either a tenancy agreement or certificate of occupancy.
The court further held that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 15 with evidence of at least three months’ salary, authentication from the immediate head of department and proof of pensionable employment.
Justice Abdulmalik also directed the surety to depose to an affidavit of means and submit a recent passport photograph, while the defendant was ordered to deposit his international passport with the court.
Earlier, prosecution counsel, M.L. Jackson, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to proceed with trial.
The first prosecution witness, a DSS operative identified as Uruntu Douglas, told the court that the defendant was transferred to the Department of State Services by the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps for investigation.
According to the witness, the defendant voluntarily made an extrajudicial statement in the presence of his lawyers.
Douglas alleged that some soldiers sent photographs to the defendant, who subsequently produced videos from the images and shared them on social media without verifying the authenticity of the materials with military authorities.
He added that investigators extracted videos, chats and conversations from the defendant’s phone during forensic analysis, including alleged discussions about protests.
The witness further told the court that a certificate of compliance was issued after the forensic examination was concluded.
During proceedings, defence counsel, Sam Amadi, informed the court that the defence had not been served with the investigation report and other documents sought to be tendered by the prosecution.
The prosecution described the omission as an oversight and apologised before the court.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the DSS investigation report as Exhibit A.
The prosecution also tendered an iPhone allegedly recovered from the defendant, a flash drive said to contain videos posted on social media, conversations extracted from the device and a certificate of compliance.
The defence, however, objected to the admissibility of the flash drive, arguing that its contents had neither been described nor played before the court.
The matter was adjourned till May 25 for continuation of trial, while the first prosecution witness is yet to be discharged.
