A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday discharged and acquitted a Nigerian publisher, Agba Jalingo, of cybercrime charges.
Jalingo was arrested on August 2022 by the Nigeria Police over a Facebook post in which he alleged that Alami Ayade, the wife to the younger brother of the former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, contracted someone to write examination for her at the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.
According to the Police, Jalingo also published the story in his online newspaper, CrossRiverWatch.
He was also charged with terrorism, treasonable felony and cybercrime for accusing the then Governor Ayade of diverting N500 million belonging to Cross River State.
The publisher was arraigned in 2023 before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who remanded him at the Medium Security Custodial Center, Kuje.
The court later granted him bail.
A report by the The CrossRiverWatch newspaper stated that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, on Monday, found Jalingo not guilty of the crimes the Police brought against him.
