Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Thursday, dismissed the bail applications by four bloggers accused of blackmailing Guaranty Trust Holding Company and its Group Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje.
He also adjourned the matter to January 13 and 14, 2025.
The four bloggers: Precious Eze, Olawale Rotimi, Rowland Olonishuwa, and Seun Odunlami, who were dragged before the Court by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force are facing a 10 count amended charge for allegedly publishing false information about GTCO and Agbaje through various social media platforms.
They had pleaded not guilty to the charges and were denied bail because Eze was accused of being a serial offender.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on November 13 and 14, 2024, Justice Faji, who ordered an accelerated trial of the four bloggers, however dismissed their bail applications, citing the serious nature of the alleged offences, which included charges that could lead to up to 14 years in prison.
The judge also held that Eze has shown the tendencies of committing the offence again if let out as he is currently charged with a similar offence in another court and was only out on bail when he went ahead to commit the alleged offence for which he is now standing trial.
He also highlighted the potential destabilising impact such actions could have on the banking sector, particularly since some of the charges involved cross-border activities on the internet.
He also noted that the defendants’ actions challenged the authority of regulatory bodies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, which had approved GTCO’s audited statements.
At the resumption of trial on Thursday, the defence counsel, O. A Afolabi, called Eze, the 1st defendant, to the witness box to give his testimony concerning the circumstances surrounding the recording of his statement at the police custody after his arrest.
The witness said: “I was arrested on September 21, 2024 at Gbagada and was taken to the SFU office in Ikoyi.
“When we got there, I was taken to the office on the first floor by the right, where we met someone called Abu, who later called Mr. Yakubu to conduct my interrogation.
“He then took me to another office where there were many files.
“He then asked me if I knew why I was arrested and I answered that I had no idea.
“A file was then shown to me and I didn’t know how the file applied to me.
“Yakubu then replied that it was a petition written against me and a few others from GTB.
“We sat down and discussed.
“He told me my name was mentioned that I wrote a story against the bank and he said if I should cooperate with him, the issue will be settled seamlessly.
“He said if I give the full details of the issues, I’d be free to go.
“He said I should write my statement and I asked that my lawyer has to be here before I write and he replied that it doesn’t matter since all that he asked was for me to write what happened.
“I was insistent on having my lawyer around and he got offended.