Court dismisses cybercrime case against man who threatened governor

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed the cybercrime case against Sanusi Dankaka. He was charged with threatening to release nude videos and photos of Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf on social media.

Judge Salim Ibrahim dismissed the case after the prosecution lawyer, A.Y. Afegbua, asked to withdraw the charges against Dankaka.

The lawyer for the defendant, Kauna Penzin, agreed with Afegbua’s request to drop the case. The judge then made a brief ruling and dismissed the case.

Initially, the judge had set the case for trial on 7 December after Dankaka pleaded not guilty. But on Tuesday, the case was brought forward and listed as item number 28 on the day's schedule.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the State Security Service (SSS) charged Dankaka on two counts of cybercrime on 22 October.

One charge claimed that Dankaka and some others, who are still at large, said on Facebook that they had nude videos and photos of Governor Yusuf. The prosecution said Dankaka "threatened to release them to the public," and even tried to share the alleged "malicious publication" on his Facebook page, Sanusi Dankaka Yahaya.

This action supposedly broke Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015. The prosecution said that his acts are punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law.

In the second charge, the SSS said he and the others sent out a false publication claiming he had the videos and photos of the governor. The SSS alleged that Dankaka knew the publication was false but still shared it to annoy, insult, and harm Governor Yusuf’s reputation.

The SSS stated that this offence goes against, and is punishable under, Section 24(1) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended.

On Tuesday, the prosecution lawyer did not provide any reason for withdrawing the charges.