Shafi’u Umar Tureta, an aide to the former governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, the senator representing Sokoto South in the National Assembly, has been arrested, arraigned, and remanded in the correctional facility and being charged by the Sokoto State Governor.
The aid who was arrested by the police was charged by the government for the alleged passing of false information and circulating injury messages, which is against the panel code. The allegations were reportedly passed through the accused’s Facebook pages.
The accused was brought before the magistrate court in Sokoto on Monday. He had reportedly committed the offences in July 2024. Another offence the suspect allegedly committed was the circulation of a document claiming the governor scored F9 in English Language in the senior school certificate examination (SSCE).
Another allegation against the aide was that the accused was spraying dollar notes during the birthday celebration of Fatima, the governor’s wife. He had reportedly posted online videos used to mock the governor for not being able to speak fluent English,
Journalists were barred from covering the proceedings when the suspect was brought before the court on Monday.
The accused, Tureta, serves as the special assistant on local and digital media to the senator representing Sokoto South.
The aide was arrested on Sunday when armed security operatives stormed his residence and took him away.
Speaking on the arrest on Monday, Amnesty International Nigeria has called on the Sokoto State government to release the arrested aid unconditionally as they stated that the arrest was unacceptable.
They claimed that the Sokoto Stat government had intended to bring big charges before the accused that would keep him in detention for a long time.
They further claimed that the current state of human rights abuses by the Sokoto State government has been enormous and unacceptable; they further called for the end of such practices immediately.
They called on the government to focus on focus on addressing the level of poverty and the concerns around the out-of-school children, which are currently lingering in the state. The AI also called on the state government to focus on the level of insecurity which has taken over some parts of the state, such as the hundred killed in Isa and Sabon Birnin LGA.
In a separate statement, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto berated the arrest of the senator’s aid, adding that it was not a crime to publish public video of the governor for any reason.
They noted that the video published were parts of the records of the media aides to the governor that were made public, they called on the governor to speak to the media team to avoid the circulation of such digital materials.
The PDP further counsels the governor to salvage his image through improved government in the state rather than killing the freedom of expression of the citizenry.
Tambuwal served as governor of Sokoto from 2015 to 2023 and is currently a senator representing Sokoto South in the national assembly.
