A blogger and publisher of Igbo Times Magazine and INews, Ejike Ofoegbu, has been remanded.
The detention of Ejike Ofoegbu was ordered by a Magistrate Court I, sitting at Amawbia near Awka, Anambra State capital, on Monday.
The blogger is charged with criminal defamation against the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, members of his family, and his son, Ozonna.
The three-count charge border on dentity theft, defamation and cyber stalking.
The court heard from the prosecution that the defendant published several false and defamatory reports, including claims that Soludo had publicly disowned his son; that Ozonna allegedly described his father as “a drunkard who beat my mom”; and that the governor engaged in a “drinking competition” with a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to the prosecutors all the claims are false, misleading and deliberately designed to injure the reputation, character, and public image of the Governor and members of his family.
The Chief Magistrate C.O. Ezekwere, who presided over the matter, acceded to the request of the prosecution for Ofoegbu to be detained at the Awka Correctional Centre, pending the conclusion of police investigations and the transmission of the case file to the Office of the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for legal advice.
