The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned a suspect, Mubarak Abdullahi, for allegedly circulating a forged letter purportedly written by President Bola Tinubu and addressed to the President of the United States of America.
Abdullahi, popularly known as Sardaunan Samari, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Court No. 10 in Kabala Doki, Kaduna State. The presiding magistrate ordered his immediate remand at the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Kaduna pending his formal trial.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed the development in a statement released late Monday. He disclosed that the secret police have filed a three-count charge on cybercrime and defamation against the suspect at the Federal High Court in Kaduna.
According to the presidency, operatives arrested the suspect on September 28 after he shared the fabricated document on his Facebook page alongside the caption, “ATIKU IS COMING.”
“An avowed supporter of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar now faces trial in Kaduna for circulating a document purportedly written by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the President of the United States of America. The DSS will continue to show that it has the capacity to trace those engaged in circulating misleading information in cyberspace”, Onanuga.
Although investigators confirmed that Abdullahi admitted to sharing the document and tendered an apology, the contrition was insufficient to halt his prosecution.
Meanwhile, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has strongly condemned the arrest.
Sowore, reacting via his official X handle on Tuesday, accused the Federal Government of deploying state security apparatus to intimidate citizens.
“How on earth do you reduce a national security agency like the DSS to a mere vacuum cleaner, deployed to sweep up dissenting voices in your inordinate ambition to subdue every citizen simply because you are afraid to face the Nigerian people…Arresting a hapless citizen for posting a document online, sad! Shame on all of you”, Sowore.
As of the time of filing this report, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his media aides have not officially reacted to the claim of the presidency linking the suspect to their political camp.
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