Court jails man over false Facebook post on COVID-related deaths in Kogi

A magistrate court in Lokoja has sentenced one Habibu Rabiu to two months in prison for posting false information on his Facebook timeline.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had arrested Rabiu over comments he made on Facebook.

In the post made during the peak of the COVID pandemic, Rabiu said the rate at which fever was killing people in Kogi state was alarming.

He was arrested at Anyigba in Dekina LGA and subsequently arraigned before the chief magistrate court 3 in Lokoja.

M.A. Abaji, prosecuting counsel, told the court that the defendant acted contrary to section 393 of the Kogi state penal code by intimidating people, creating fear and inciting people against the state government.

Abaji said the defendant has also raised false alarm in the state against the backdrop of the normal death rate during the COVID pandemic in 2020.

According to the prosecuting counsel, the state epidemiologist, who was called to testify in order to verify Rabiu’s assertions, said the death rate was normal at the time of the Facebook post, contrary to Rabiu’s view.

However, E.A. Iwu, counsel to the defendant, argued that his client acted based on emotion following the death of his sister who allegedly died as a result of malaria fever at that time.

He explained that Rabiu was in a sad mood when he made the Facebook post.

Delivering judgment on Tuesday, A.A. Agatha, the chief magistrate, found Rabiu guilty and sentenced him to two months in prison, with the option of N5,000 fine.