At last, detained student, Aminu Mohammed, regains freedom

Aminu Mohammed, a final year student of Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State and critic of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has been released.

He was arrested in November and remanded over a tweet on Mrs Buhari.

First Lady, Aisha Buhari, on Friday withdrew the case against Mohammed.

The prosecution counsel, Fidelis Ogbobe, said the first lady as the mother of the nation decided to withdraw the case, following the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians.

He relied on Section 108 subsection 2(a) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act to move the application for the withdrawal of the case.

Ruling on the matter, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court commended Mrs Buhari for taking the “bold steps” to forgive the accused.

While issuing the release warrant of the student, the judge called on parents to always monitor their children to avoid recurrence.

Mr. Muhammed, who was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings, had faced charges of defamation of the character of the First Lady of Nigeria over a tweet.

According to a police report, Mr. Muhammed was arrested at Federal University Dutse on 18 November 2022 after Mrs Buhari instructed a team of police detectives to track him down.

He was then held in an unknown location and denied access to his family and lawyer, in clear violation of international human rights law.