A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of journalist Stanley Ugagbe to the Kuje Custodial Centre, pushing his bail hearing to September and leaving him behind bars for at least two months over an investigative report on a senior Central Bank of Nigeria official.
Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim gave the order on Tuesday after journalist Stanley Ugagbe, a senior reporter with Secret Reporters, was arraigned on six counts brought by the Inspector General of Police, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported. He pleaded not guilty to every charge read to him.
The case against journalist Stanley Ugagbe and his publisher, Tega Oghenedoro, widely known by his pen name Fejiro Oliver, grew out of a June investigation into allegations of corruption and infidelity involving Emem Usoro, the CBN Deputy Governor for Operations, according to Premium Times. Oghenedoro remains outside Nigeria and did not appear in court.
Prosecutors have accused the pair of cyberstalking, conspiracy, false publication and defamation under Nigeria’s cybercrimes law, alongside separate counts under the Penal Code, The Nation reported. The disputed articles alleged that Usoro concealed a property in California worth N1.4 billion and held an undeclared N3.6 billion stake in a Los Angeles home, and also alleged a personal affair that broke up a marriage.
When his defence team pressed to be heard on bail on Tuesday, the prosecution told the court it needed more time to respond, Premium Times reported. Justice Ibrahim adjourned the bail hearing to 21 September, a ruling his lawyer, Adekunle Olanipekun, described as coming under unusual pressure.
Nigeria’s courts begin their annual one-month recess on 27 July, meaning he could stay in custody for close to two months before any bail decision is reached, CPJ reported. Olanipekun said he fears his client will miss his mother’s funeral, due on 30 July, and is preparing a fresh bail application that could be placed before a vacation judge.
This is not the first time he has been held over the CBN story. He was seized from a taxi in Abuja on 1 July by armed men later linked to the police, held for days without official acknowledgement, then released without charge on 6 July from the Nigeria Police Force’s National Cybercrime Centre. He was detained again on 13 July when he returned to collect his phone and laptop, CPJ said.
CPJ’s Africa programme has called for the immediate release of journalist Stanley Ugagbe and for the charges against him and Oghenedoro to be dropped, arguing that reporting on alleged official corruption should not be treated as a crime. The charge sheet carries stiff penalties, with the conspiracy count linked to cyberstalking attracting up to seven years in prison, false publication up to three years or a fine, and harassment-related offences up to ten years, according to CPJ’s breakdown of the charges.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and Usoro have not issued a public response to the claims contained in the disputed reports. The Nigeria Police Force has also not addressed allegations that its officers were involved in Ugagbe’s initial disappearance at the start of July.
For now, journalist Stanley Ugagbe remains at Kuje, about 40 kilometres southwest of Abuja, awaiting a bail hearing that cannot take place until the courts resume sitting in September.
