Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Bauchi State chapter, has confirmed the release of Mrs Rhoda Jatau on bail by the Bauchi state High Court 11.
Mr. Mujahid Ibrahim, the Programme Officer of CITAD disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Saturday.
Rhoda Jatau is detained for blasphemy.
On May 20, 2022, authorities in Bauchi State arrested Jatau after riots broke out in response to a perceived blasphemous message she sent on WhatsApp.
Jatau’s message came reportedly in response to the murder of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu who was killed in an instance of mob violence over a perceived blasphemous message she sent via WhatsApp.
Jatau was reportedly accused of “inciting public disturbance; exciting contempt of religious creed; and cyber stalking” under Sections 114, 210 of the Penal Code Law and Section 24 subsection 1b(i) of Cybercrime Prohibition Prevention Act 2015 Laws.
CITAD was one of the Civil Society Organisations in Bauchi state that clamoured for Jatau’s release from prison since May 20, 2022.
Jatau was alleged to have perpetrated the act through the use of a WhatsApp group chat in her place of work in the Warji Local Government Area of Bauchi state.
The act led to the destruction of properties and arson of houses but no life was lost as a result.
It will be recalled that Yunusa Ya’u, the Executive Director, CITAD, had on Friday morning, during a news Conference on the Digital Rights implications of Jatau’s continued detention over her Social Media post, called on the federal and Bauchi state government to release her from detention.
Speaking with NAN, the CITAD Programme Officer, said “we have received the news that she has now been released on bail on Friday and we have been working towards the confirmation of the information since then.
“Today, we have been able to confirm that she has truly been released on bail and has reunited with her husband and children,” he said.
Jatau was released after meeting the bail condition on Friday by Justice Nana Jubrin of the Bauchi state High Court 11.
After she was released on bail, the case was now set for defence.(NAN)
