Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has granted bail to activist and social media commentator, Justice Chidiebere, popularly known as Justice Crack, in the sum of ₦5 million.
Delivering a ruling on the bail application on Monday, May 18, Justice Abdulmalik ordered the defendant to provide one surety in like sum.
The court held that the surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court at a fixed address for at least four years and must deposit proof of residence, either through a tenancy agreement or certificate of occupancy, at the court registry.
Justice Abdulmalik further ordered that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 15.
Truthng reports that the surety is also required to provide evidence of at least three months’ salary, a letter of authentication from the immediate head of department, and proof of pensionable employment.
The court also directed the surety to depose to an affidavit of means and submit a recent passport photograph.
As part of the bail conditions, the defendant was ordered to deposit his international passport with the court.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel informed the court that the prosecution was ready to commence the trial.
The first prosecution witness, Uruntu Douglas, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, told the court that he came to know the defendant during an investigation after he was transferred to the DSS from the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps.
Douglas said the defendant voluntarily made an extra-judicial statement, which was recorded in the presence of his lawyers.
According to the witness, soldiers had sent pictures to the defendant, who allegedly used the images to make videos and posted them on social media without confirming the authenticity of the materials from military sources.
The witness said investigators later extracted data from the defendant’s phone, including videos allegedly posted online, conversations between the defendant and some soldiers, chats with his godfather allegedly discussing protests, and excerpts from his social media pages.
He added that a certificate of compliance was issued and signed by a superior officer after the forensic process was concluded.
During proceedings, defence counsel, Sam Amadi, told the court that the defence had not been served with the investigation report and other documents the prosecution sought to tender.
The prosecution, however, described the failure as an oversight and apologised to 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 platforms, conversations extracted from the device, and the certificate of compliance.
The defence objected to the admissibility of the flash drive, arguing that its contents had not been described or played before the court.
After listening to the parties, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until May 25 for the continuation of the trial.
The first prosecution witness was yet to be discharged as of the time the matter was adjourned.
