Aisha mum on Adamu’s torture, 2 weeks after detention of undergraduate
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
********************************
Agu disclosed Aminu is treating a “3rd degree fire burn on his left arm and has been in severe pains [since] his arrest and detention ….”
He said his client was “seized on 18 November, 2022, by operatives of the SSS before he was handed over to the nominal complainant (Mrs Buhari),” fuelling speculation among Nigerians that Aisha tortured Aminu.
********************************
Aso Rock’s false prophets and gaslighters are yet to publicly deny allegation Aisha Buhari personally supervised the torture and detention without trial of Aminu Adamu Mohammed on 18 November, five months after he criticised her on Twitter.
The First Lady has, however. deactivated her Twitter account after days of widespread outrage and criticism of her on the same platform for her alleged brutality of a boy who could be her son.
Aminu, 23, disclosed he was arrested, beaten, and detained by security agents at the behest of Aisha, reminiscent of how Muhammadu Buhari her husband used Decree 4 to torture and incarcerate citizens in his autocratic days as military Head of State.
“Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi,” Aminu tweeted in Hausa on 8 June, loosely meaning in English, “Mama has got fatter by eating masses’ money.” He did not mention Aisha by name but attached her picture which shows her rotund.
Aminu is a final student of environmental management at the Federal University, Dutse (FUD). He made the Twitter post four months into the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which lasted a total eight months.
He has already missed one examination and is due to start his final examinations on 5 December.
His classmates described him to the BBC as a brilliant student.
Social media users and rights campaigners have criticised Abuja for the treatment of Aminu and called for his immediate release.
Some say Nigerian officials are becoming increasingly intolerant of criticism.
The BBC adds that earlier this month, two young TikTok users were fined and flogged in public after a court found them guilty of defaming Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in a video shared on social media.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Aminu arrested and beaten on Aisha’s order misses final undergraduate exam
Yesufu and CSOs accuse Aisha of power abuse over detention of Aminu
Northern CSOs dismiss Buhari’s poverty fight, seek probe of palliative spending
__________________________________________________________________
Aisha to testify against Aminu in court
Aminu was arraigned on Tuesday before Judge Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja where he pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge and was remanded at Suleja prison in Niger State.
Police alleged in the charge sheet dated 23 November that:
“Between May and June 2022 within the jurisdiction of this court, did intentionally open a Twitter handle with the name … Catalyst and screenshot the photograph of her Excellency Hajia Aisha Buhari and wrote on it in Hausa language … roughly translated to English language to mean ‘Mama has embezzled monies meant for the poor to satisfaction’ and posted same on your above Twitter handle.. knowing same to be false and capable of affecting her reputation.”
The police said the alleged offence bordering on defamation and cyberstalking, contravened Section 391 of the Penal Code.
If found guilty, Aminu faces a prison term of a maximum two years.
Premium Times reports the list of witnesses attached to the proof of evidence filed by the police, Aisha, the nominal complainant, is one of the five witnesses assembled by the prosecution to establish the case against him.
Another witness is Festus Jossiah, one of the investigators who tracked and arrested the defendant.
Police officers Abdulsalam Zakari, Yahaya Njayo, and Haliru Tahir are the other prosecution witnesses lined up against the defendant.
Court filings signed by James Idachaba, a lawyer at the FCT police legal department in Abuja, listed Aminu’s statement, a print out of the alleged defamatory post and an IPhone belonging to the defendant, as exhibits.
Police recount how Aminu was tracked and arrested
Festus Josiah, a police detective in the ‘Anti Vice Section A’ in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, in his statement filed as part of the prosecution’s proof of evidence, disclosed he was contacted by Aisha’s Aide De Camp (ADC) Usman Shugaba over Aminu’s tweet, according to reporting by Premium Times.
Josiah said he works with the Office of the First Lady as a phone “tracker.”
He disclosed his team travelled to Dutse on a Monday and trailed Aminu for three days before they tracked him down.
“When we got his phone, an Iphone 7, we saw the Twitter account on the phone. We also saw the (alleged offending) post,” Josiah wrote in his statement dated 19 November.
He said Aminu was brought to the FCT State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
According to court filings, Aminu’s confiscated phone has been sent to the Terrorism Investigation Branch, Force Intelligence Bureau in Abuja “for analysis” and “evidential value.”
Aminu seeks bail
Aminu’s lawyer Kingsley Agu, in a bail application dated 25 November sought an order admitting his client to bail pending the determination of the suit.
He based his application on the grounds the defendant had never been charged for any crime.
Agu disclosed Aminu is treating a “3rd degree fire burn on his left arm and has been in severe pains [since] his arrest and detention ….”
He said his client was “seized on 18 November, 2022, by operatives of the SSS before he was handed over to the nominal complainant (Mrs Buhari),” fuelling speculation among Nigerians that Aisha tortured Aminu.
The Judge adjourned the case until 30 January for the hearing of the bail request.
But Aminu is said to have an examination on 5 December.
There have been calls from civil society organisations, like the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) North West chapter, for Aminu’s release.
NANS gave a two-day ultimatum to Aisha to release him unconditionally.
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong in a Facebook post described Aisha’s conduct as “evil and a gross abuse of power.”
