Court convicts Nigerian activist ‘I G Wala’ for criminal defamation, others

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has
convicted an activist, Ibrahim Wala, popularly known as I G
Wala.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of FCT High Court in Maitama found Mr Wala
guilty on three out of the four charges filed against him by the
Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the
Federation.

The three charges for which he was found guilty include unlawful
assembly, public incitement and criminal defamation of
character.

The judge, however, dismissed the charge of criminal
intimidation for lack of merit.

The activist was arraigned following a petition filed by the
chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON),
Abdullahi Mukhtar, alleging that Mr Wala uses his Facebook page to
incite the public against him and defame his integrity and that of
the commission he heads.

On the charge of unlawful assembly, Mr Wala was found guilty of
using his organisation, the Citizens Action To Take Back Nigeria
(CATBAN), to form an unlawful assembly. The judge ruled that the
organisation was unregistered.

The judge said the prosecution “has been able to establish the
offense of making an unlawful assembly.”

The judge also found Mr Wala guilty of public incitement, an
offense contrary to section 114 of the penal code which deals with
the breach of public peace.

Mr Yusuf also agreed with the prosecution that Mr Wala
criminally defamed the chairman of NAHCON, Abdullahi Mohammed,
after he alleged that the NAHCON boss “made N3 billion for himself”
from the 2017 Hajj operations.

The judge said Mr Wala wrote on his Facebook page that he has
documents to prove the allegation.

He, however, said the activist failed to provide the document to
prove his claims in court.

“Where is the document proving N3 billion made by chairman hajj
commission?

“Why has the accused person failed to tender such document now
that he has been dragged before a court of law?” the judge
said.

He said by his inability to provide relevant documents to prove
his ‘huge allegations’, Mr Wala “has made the case of the
prosecution less cumbersome”.

The judge will announce sentencing later today.

Mr Wala has led protests against issues like corruption and
human rights violations in several parts of the country.