A Magistrate Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Monday, ordered that a 40-year-old suspect, be remanded in Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre for defaming the character of the State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
The suspect, Idongesit Ezekiel Idiok, was arrested and detained after he posted on his Facebook page that the State governor, Governor Emmanuel is having an affair with one of his female cabinet members.
The accused person with a Facebook name “Soundcraft Owo OBA” is said to have made a social media publication on the 16th March 2022, containing offensive words against the Governor.
The publication followed an incident at the Ibom Hall, Uyo, during the International Women’s Day celebration where the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Gloria Edet, was alleged to have claimed that she was the leader of women in the state in the presence of the wife of the governor, Mrs Martha Emmanuel.
The accused was said to have taken to his Facebook page and other social media platforms to abuse the governor, who had described the publication as false and malicious.
At the hearing of the matter on Monday, Senior Magistrate Ini-Ifiok Isong, said by the probity of Section 50 of the Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015, the jurisdiction to hear the case is vested in the Federal High Court.
The Court, therefore, ordered that pursuant to Section 315 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Law of Akwa Ibom State as amended, the case file be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the accused person remanded in Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre.
The trial judge Senior Magistrate Ini-Ifiok Isong remanded Idiok pending the advice of the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in a charge of Cybercrime levelled against him.
The case was adjourned till Monday, the 4th day of April 2022 for an update.
