The State Security Service (SSS) has filed falsehood and terrorism-related charges against a Kaduna-based controversial activist and critic, Mahdi Shehu.
Mr Shehu, in December 2024, shared a video on social media claiming that the Nigerian government has allowed France to establish a military base in the North-east. However, the military debunked the claim, describing it as fake and mischievous.
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In an interview with Al Jazeera, the Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oloyede, explained that establishing a foreign military base in Nigeria will attract more trouble and worsen the country’s fight against insurgency.
Yet, Mr Shehu insisted that the military was lying.
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“The Chief of Army Staff received the first contingent of French soldiers and immediately deployed them to Maiduguri to ‘HELP NIGERIA IN FIGHTING BOKO HARAM.’
“The same Boko Haram they claimed to have decimated and are scampering for safety,” he had posted on X.
Checks showed that the video Mr Shehu shared to suit his narrative dates back to 2013 when a contingent of the Nigerian Army, which was part of the AFISMA (AU) mission, arrived at the Senou International Airport, Bamako, Mali.
The critic was later arrested and charged to court. But the Kaduna State High Court granted him a N3 million bail on 9 January. Two prominent clerics were said to stand for him as sureties.
The five-count charges against Mr Shehu
According to a Daily Trust report, the critic was re-arrested at his clinic in Unguwar Dosa by security operatives in mufti.
Two days later, the service obtained an ex-parte motion from the Federal High Court in Kaduna, requesting an order to detain the critic for 60 days until it concluded its investigations.
Subsequently, the SSS filed the five-count charge against him under Section 66 of the Terrorism (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022.
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“In granting the order, Justice Rilwan Aikawa held that the DSS should keep Shehu for 60 days to enable their officers to conclude investigations,” Daily Trust quoted a DSS official who spoke in confidence.
The medium mentioned the charges to include false publication to cause public alarm contrary to Section 59 (1) of the Criminal Code Act and Dissemination of Terrorism related false information contrary to Section 26 (2) (a) and (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Other charges are intentional dissemination of false information contrary to Section 24(1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention, etc.) Act, 2024 (as amended); False allegation of Treasonable Act contrary to Section 41 of the Criminal Code Act; and Use of social media to support false allegations of National Security Threat, contrary to Section 24(1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act.
This is not the first time Mr Shehu has been charged to court for falsehood and other offences.
In 2021, he pulled a stunt on the judiciary by walking into the courtroom with crutches and bandages.
This was after the Katsina State government filed a petition against Mr Shehu for accusing the then-governor Aminu Masari and other top officials of corruption.
