Haruna Mohammed, the publisher of a Bauchi-based investigative online newspaper, Wikki Times, was released on bail on Thursday by a magistrates’ court pending determination of the case of alleged incitement, disturbance of public peace and blackmailing the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
He was granted bail Wednesday but failed to meet up with conditions that require a district head within the jurisdiction of court and a senior civil servant to the rank of a director as sureties.
When the accused failed to meet up with the conditions, the court Thursday granted variation of the bail conditions and replaced the district head with the chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) Bauchi State Council which led to his release.
The publisher was remanded in a custodial centre on Tuesday after the police arraigned him for allegedly hiring some women to incite disturbance by instigating them to make utterances that would prejudice the peace and wellbeing of the intended voters at the polling unit in Duguri Ward in Alkaleri LGA.
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He was also arraigned for purportedly blackmailing the governor in his ward contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code.
When the case was mentioned on Tuesday, the accused person (Mohammed) denied all the charges.
The attorney general of the state applied to take over the case from the police as contained in the 1999 constitution.
The Magistrate, Ahmed Musa, adjourned the case to March 13.
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