ELVISHOT:
Social media commentator, Ibrahim Garba Wala, has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment over offences bordering on criminal defamation and public incitement.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of a High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, convicted Wala, who is the convener of Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) in 3 of the 4-count charges brought against him by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Justice Halilu convicted him fo managing unlawful association, public incitement and defamation of character over social media posts against the chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Abdullahi Muhammed.

The NAHCON boss had alleged that Wala used his Facebook page to incite the public against him and defame him and that of the commission.

The court agreed with the prosecution that Wala criminally defamed Muhammed after he alleged that the NAHCON boss “made N3 billion for himself” from the 2017 Hajj operations.

The judge said Wala wrote on his Facebook page that he has documents to prove the allegation, but failed to provide the document to prove his claims in court.


See more details below

Source:

http://www.thenaijafame.com.ng/2019/04/social-media-commentator-ibrahim-garba.html?m=1

SarkinYarki:
Ironically this same IG wala used this same Facebook page to malign GEJ while supporting Buhari in 2014 but as karma will have it the same APC now wants to jail him for 12 years for trying to expose them

bigpicture001:

Is there no soft jail term on Nigeria judiciart books....must everything be over ten years...? did he kill anyone or almost killed anyone...?

What happened to 18 months, 6 months, 24months, two months...etc....if it's celeriac ibru, or politicians, it will be 8 summative,years running concurrently.....

sapele914:
I know those propaganda pdp machineries will be thinking critically now?

bigpicture001:

Is there no soft jail term on Nigeria judiciart books....must everything be over ten years...? did he kill anyone or almost killed anyone...?

What happened to 18 months, 6 months, 24months, two months...etc....if it's celeriac ibru, or politicians, it will be 8 summative,years running concurrently.....

Wiseandtrue:

GEJ is a hero and a father of modern democracy in Nigeria

davenaija:
They've ruined this guy's life. Adaibeku say something

badman007:


You don't have to support wickedness to justify your love for Buhari. You should be doing some thinking too.

khalifjgusau:
The ruling is suspicious and this is a threat to any concern citizen who wants things to be done in a right way...

The judge said Wala wrote on his Facebook page that he has documents to prove the allegation, but failed to provide the document to prove his claims in court.

SmartyPants:


12 years is extreme for libel.

bigpicture001:

Is there no soft jail term on Nigeria judiciart books....must everything be over ten years...? did he kill anyone or almost killed anyone...?

What happened to 18 months, 6 months, 24months, two months...etc....if it's celeriac ibru, or politicians, it will be 8 summative,years running concurrently.....

omohayek:

I agree. If Wala had committed manslaughter or something as serious, but 12 years for something like this is utterly ridiculous! I bet the same court wouldn't even have handed the man 6 years if he'd been caught stealing tens of millions of US Dollars from the public purse - just look at the kid gloves with which crooks like Bode George are treated.

9gerian:
In a country where the trial of terrorists take forever, and some are even freed under very suspicious circumstances and programs...

I am not saying the man should not be punished if found guilty of criminal defamation, but there has to be some balancing acts to ensure justice for all Nigerians (regardless of public status), including victims of terrorist attacks, which should carry an effective type of capital punishment to deter others.

Our judicial system does need upgrading / overhauling...

tactius:


The guy did not commit manslaughter...but he falsely accused a government official of being a thief, falsely claimed he had documents proving he was a thief, and posted his claims on social media.

Making false claims is very serious.

In the USA....a guy called the police and falsely accused his 'enemy'...someone he had issues with over a computer game...of crime. The police stormed the enemy's house and killed him. All because of false accusations.

You don't know how serious libel is. Someone could have been jailed because of lies.

May it never happen to you or anyone else.

mapet:


Nope. It is not.

We need to understand the grave consequences of libel

SarkinYarki:
Ironically this same IG wala used this same Facebook page to malign GEJ while supporting Buhari in 2014 but as karma will have it the same APC now wants to jail him for 12 years for trying to expose them

CyberWolf:
He is not hero of anything except docility and foolishness.

Whatever you choose to call him, he is far better than Buhari

He surrounded himself with Northerners desperate for power at all cost, him thinking that carrying them along is the best

But we all saw how that fared

SmartyPants:



Of course it is. What does section 375 of the Criminal Code Act of Nigeria say?

Maximum sentence is 2 years

Enlighten yourself before commenting in the public sphere.

RoyalUc:


I think you are the one supporting wickedness to justify your hate for Buhari.
Did you read this post?
You may not know the damage such careless, frivolous, libelous acts could do to a man's life until you get up there and one useless, careless entity makes you a target...

RoyalUc:


I think you are the one supporting wickedness to justify your hate for Buhari.
Did you read this post?
You may not know the damage such careless, frivolous, libelous acts could do to a man's life until you get up there and one useless, careless entity makes you a target...

badman007:


You shamelessly try to justify 12 years prison sentence for libel, how many years should Buhari get for what he has done to The Shiite commander?

badman007:



same thing they said when they killed Ken Saro-Wiwa.