A politician in Niger State has
been charged and remanded in prison for purportedly directing ‘intentional
insult’ at another resident of the state.
Court filings seen said Abubakar Katcha was arraigned on December 24 in Minna, the state
capital. His associates said he was remanded in the medium security prison in
Minna because the magistrate declined to grant him bail.
He had honoured police invitation
that morning, only for him to be driven to court and summarily charged for
insulting a resident over the telephone.
The police invitation came days
after Isah Lapeni, a resident of Minna, filed a police complaint on December
19. He alleged that Mr Katcha had called him by telephone “raining series of
abuse on him.”
Mr Lapeni said he did not know
why Mr Katcha called him to insult him, but felt his rights had been violated
and reported the matter to the police. He did not allege a threat to life,
court filings showed.
The police said Mr Katcha’s
action constituted an “intentional insult” which could be punished under section
399 of the penal codes.
Mr Katcha denied the allegations
and his lawyers immediately moved a motion for his bail. The magistrate,
Ibrahim Shabafu, adjourned further hearing on Mr Katcha’s bail application
until January 6, 2020.
The charges came three weeks
after Mr Katcha was arraigned in Minna on a petition brought against him by the
state governor, Sani Bello. The governor’s chief of staff had petitioned the
police, alleging that Mr Katcha posted criticism of his principal on his
Facebook page.
The charges said Mr Katcha
accused the governor on Facebook of diverting public funds for private use
amidst decaying road infrastructure. The police said Mr Katcha’s Facebook
activities could “incite public interest” in the affairs of the state.
Mr Katcha’s associates said the
fresh charges were part of the governor’s “desperate plots” to silence critics
— even though there was no direct link unlike the earlier ones. They identified
Mr Lapeni, who filed a complaint to the police, as being friends with the governor.
Messrs Katcha and Bello were
erstwhile political ally, and once served in the same cabinet as commissioners
in Niger State. They also both belong to the ruling All Progressives Congress,
with Mr Katcha currently serving as a board member of the National Film and
Video Censors Board. He was named to the position by President Buhari in
February 2018.
“All this drama is because of Mr
Katcha’s stance against corruption and how the state government has diverted
money meant for public for personal gains,” said Shaba Katcha, a relative.
“They can continue to use their proxies to attack him, but they will one day
account for their deeds.”
Shaba Katcha accused the police
and the magistrate of being a part of the conspiracy to silent critics in Niger
State, a plot he said seemed to be playing out well as many people have either
stopped further criticism of the governor or left the state altogether.
A spokesperson for the governor,
Mary Berje, declined comments about the latest charges against Mr Katcha.
Niger police spokesperson,
Abubakar Daninna, said Mr Katcha committed a criminal offence by passing insult
at another citizen, but that the police had not violated his rights by
immediately charging him to court.
“There is an aggrieved party and
the police had been satisfied that a criminal offence has been committed,” Mr
Dannina said on Sunday afternoon. “Intentional insult
is a criminal offence, if not, the police will not take it up and charge it to
court.”
Mr Katcha’s case with the
governor underscores the worsening dimension of a widening web of attacks
against free speech across the country. The enduring wave, which has claimed
several journalists and social critics as victims, began shortly after Mr
Buhari assumed power in May 2015, which coincided with when the draconian
Cybercrime Act signed by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, took effect.
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