The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted bail to activist and social media commentator, Justice Mark Chidiebere, otherwise known as Justice Crack, in the sum of N5m over alleged cybercrime offences.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, while ruling on the bail application, ordered that the bail bond must be backed by 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, with the court registry.
The judge further ruled that the surety must be a federal civil servant not below Grade Level 15, with evidence of at least three months’ salary, a letter of 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, counsel for the prosecution, M.L. Jackson, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to commence trial.
The first prosecution witness, identified as Uruntu Douglas, a DSS operative, told the court that he became involved in the matter after the defendant was transferred to the DSS by the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps for investigation.
The witness said the defendant voluntarily made an extra-judicial statement in the presence of his lawyers.
According to him, some soldiers allegedly sent photographs to the defendant, who then made videos from the images and posted them on social media without verifying the authenticity of the materials from military authorities.
He further told the court that investigators extracted data from the defendant’s phone, including videos allegedly shared online, conversations between the defendant and some soldiers, chats with his “godfather” allegedly discussing protests, and excerpts from his social media pages.
The witness added that a certificate of compliance was issued and signed by a superior officer after the forensic analysis 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 the prosecution sought to tender.
The prosecution, however, 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 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, with the first prosecution witness yet to be discharged.
PUNCH Online reports that the bail hearing was earlier stalled on May 14, following a disagreement among members of the defendant’s legal team over who should lead the defence.
The disagreement led to the withdrawal of an earlier bail application filed on behalf of the activist, forcing the court to adjourn the matter till Monday for the hearing of a fresh application.
