Defamation: Radio Nigeria Staff Jailed Over Social Media Content In Kano

A special assistant to the immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, Anas Abba Dala, has revealed the motive behind the decision to drag one Mukhtar Dahiru, a staff of Radio Nigeria, Pyramid FM, Kano before a Magistrate Court.

Dahiru, a continuity announcer, was remanded at the correctional centre by a Kano Magistrate court 24 for alleged criminal conspiracy, defamation of character and insult against the plaintiff, contrary to sections 97, 391 & 115 of the penal code.

Reacting to negative insinuation on the development, Dala disclosed that he was compelled to take legal action against Dahiru Rigachikun for calling him an adulterer and a wayward son who abandoned his 85-year-old mother hawking on the street.

Dala also alleged that Dahiru defamed his character by accusing him of impregnating a lady and abusing the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, through his personal social media handle.

Dala further described falsehood and baseless assumptions being circulated in the media, accusing the Kano State government of jailing a journalist following this incident.

He insisted that he was compelled to drag Dahiru to court to reclaim his integrity and image, which were threatened by the false accusations against him.

“Firstly, I did not sue him on behalf of the government, though I am its official, but this is a private legal case because my personality is attacked. The reason why I took him to court was because Dahiru used his platform to reign insult on my person.

“He used his social media handle to accuse me of engaging in adultery, that I left my mother hawking on the streets, that I can’t read or write, that I cannot even recite the first chapter of the Quran (Al-Fatiha), that I am an adulterer.

“He also brought someone from Niger State accusing me of impregnating a certain woman; he placed all these on his platform. He paired my picture with his and used a voice claiming that I insulted Vice President Kashim Shettima.

“I have all the videos as evidence. He placed all these allegations against me on his social media platforms.” Dala claimed.

Dala explained that he had reported the case to police headquarters, zone 1, which investigated the matter and advised the case be referred to court.

“So, I didn’t go to the police in the beginning. I went to Magistrate Court, where I sued him. The court then instructed the police at Zone One to investigate the matter. They got him arrested even after he made attempts to escape.

“The matter was then taken to court, where he was accused of insult, conspiracy and defamation of character.

“His lawyers came, and his counsels demanded that he be released on bail. There is one Jafar Sani Bello who provided the lawyers for him. He also claimed that he was the one that was sponsoring him to do all that,” Dala explained.

Muktar Dahiru Rigachikun, who owns the ‘MD’ platform on Facebook, allegedly uses it to intimidate members of the public and was wrongly said to have been jailed by the state government, whereas it was a case between him and Dala.