Taiwo Popoola
Shafi’u Tureta, a media aide to the former Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, is still languishing in a correctional center after he was arrested for allegedly criticizing the wife of the Sokoto State Governor, Fatima Ahmad Aliyu.
Shafi’u was said to have been arrested by operatives of the Sokoto State Police Command in August for allegedly defaming the First Lady.
The arrest followed the criticism of the governor’s wife, who was captured in a viral video holding a lavish birthday party with some guests who were throwing dollars.
The video, reportedly posted by Shafi’u, an activist, stirred up the internet as Nigerians lamented the alleged waste of resources amid the country’s ongoing economic downturn.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abdul-Aziz Na’ibi Abubakar, who is calling for the immediate release of the activist, said in a tweet on Monday that he was arrested for criticizing the “Sokoto First Lady dancing to the spree of dollars on her birthday, and for criticizing the Sokoto State governor for spending N1.2 billion to repair 25 boreholes.”
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Sokoto Command, Rufa’i Ahmad, confirmed to Urban Express News Online on Tuesday that the activist was arrested in August following a petition by the First Lady, who alleged character assassination.
Upon his arrest, Tureta was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court in Sokoto State, which ordered his remand in the correctional center.
Contrary to speculations that the police detained the suspect for over two weeks, the PPRO told journalists that the command “didn’t detain him. We charged him to court the day after he was arrested.”
“It is not about criticizing the state government because everybody has the right to freedom of speech,” the police spokesman added.
