Mr Chukwuebuka Washington Dikeocha,
the blogger who sensationally published fake pictures of “EFCC Cell” through
his Twitter handle, @TheRealDayne, yesterday begged to be remanded in the
custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
The plea followed Dikeocha’s arraignment
by the Port Harcourt Zonal office before Justice M.L. Abubakar of the Federal
High Court, Port Harcourt, River State, on a two-count charge bordering on
causing annoyance, hatred or ill will contrary to Section 24(1)(b) of the
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc ) Act, 2015
He pleaded “not guilty” to the
charges. In view of his plea, counsel for the EFCC, N.C. Ferdinand urged the
court to fix a date for the commencement of trial.
However, the defence counsel, C.C.
Achunelo, informed the court of the defendant’s pending bail application.
Responding to the application,
Ferdinand requested for a short adjournment to enable her respond to it.
“I was (only) served yesterday, my
Lord, I need time to respond,” she said.
Achunelo’s repeated prayers that the
court remands the defendant in EFCC pending hearing of his bail application was
opposed to by Ferdinand.
Justice Abubakar, thereafter,
adjourned the matter until March 12, 2020, for hearing and ordered that the
defendant be remanded in Port Harcourt Correctional Centre. Dikeocha was
arrested on February 26, 2020, a few weeks after he posted a fake tweet which
attracted unwarranted attacks on the EFCC by angry citizens who were misled by
his post on Twitter.
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