By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
In a bid to stamp out criminality in the country, the Federal Government on Monday commenced the prosecution of social media activist and influencer, Justice Chidiebere, popularly known as Justice Crack, over alleged cybercrime and felony offences before the Federal High Court in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Chidiebere, who was arraigned before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on an amended three-count charge bordering on alleged cybercrime-related offences, pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n
At the resumed proceedings, the prosecution\u2019s first witness, Oronto Douglas, told the court that audio and video recordings obtained during the defendant\u2019s interview had been transferred onto a flash drive for evidential purposes.<\/p>\n
Douglas said he also signed a certificate of compliance in accordance with legal provisions regulating electronically generated evidence.<\/p>\n
The defence, however, opposed the admissibility and playback of the flash drive, arguing that the contents could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently criticised the prosecution for failing to properly apply for a playback device to enable the evidence to be viewed openly in court.<\/p>\n
Although the prosecution explained that it had submitted a request to the office of the deputy chief registrar for the device, the judge held that the application should have been directed to the head of the court\u2019s Information Technology Department.<\/p>\n
Following the development, counsel to the defendant urged the court to allow the bail conditions earlier granted to Chidiebere to remain in effect pending the continuation of trial.<\/p>\n
The prosecution did not oppose the request, and the court accordingly upheld the existing bail conditions.<\/p>\n
Justice Abdulmalik thereafter adjourned the matter until September 28 for continuation of hearing.<\/p>\n
The case has continued to generate public attention since Chidiebere\u2019s controversial arrest earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The activist was reportedly declared missing by his family in April 2026 after allegedly dropping his child at school in Abuja and failing to return home.<\/p>\n
The incident triggered widespread outrage and allegations of enforced disappearance by civil society groups and rights advocates.<\/p>\n
Amid growing public pressure, the Nigerian Army later confirmed that the influencer was in military custody.<\/p>\n
Military authorities alleged that Chidiebere was linked to viral social media videos showing soldiers complaining about poor feeding, welfare concerns and harsh frontline conditions.<\/p>\n
The military accused him of actions capable of inciting personnel and undermining national security before handing him over to civil authorities for prosecution.<\/p>\n
He was later arraigned by the Department of State Services on charges including cybercrime and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.<\/p>\n
After regaining his freedom, Chidiebere broke his silence in a statement posted on his verified X account, where he thanked Nigerians, journalists and rights advocates who campaigned for his release.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dear Nigerians, colleagues in the media, critics, and everyone who lent their voice during this difficult period, I sincerely thank you all,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
While denying any intention to undermine state institutions, the activist said his actions were motivated by a desire for a better Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy desire has never been to bring down any institution or create division.<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect the sacrifices of the men and women serving this country, just as I remain committed to speaking for ordinary Nigerians who dream of a better nation”, he stated.<\/p>\n
He also pledged to avoid comments capable of interfering with the ongoing proceedings, expressing confidence in the judicial process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this moment, my focus is not bitterness, blame, or conflict. My focus remains the Nigeria we all deserve, a Nigeria that works for everyone”, he added.<\/p>\n
The substantive hearing in the case is expected to continue before the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent In a bid to stamp out criminality in the country, the Federal Government on Monday commenced the prosecution of social media activist and influencer, Justice Chidiebere, popularly known as Justice Crack, over alleged cybercrime and felony offences before the Federal High Court in Abuja. Chidiebere, who was arraigned before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14081,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14080\/revisions\/14081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}