September 03, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered the remand of a whistleblower, Isaac Bristol Tamunobifiri, also known as PIDOM, in Kuje Correctional Centre.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order on Tuesday after he pleaded not guilty to a nine-count charge brought against him by the Inspector General of Police.
THEWILL reports that the whistleblower, who was arrested on August 5, in his hotel room in Port Harcourt by officials of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), was arraigned on Tuesday, on charges bordering on alleged money laundering, cybercrime, and unlawfully obtaining, retaining, and disseminating classified documents.
The charges, detailed in court documents marked FHC/ABJ/CR/456/2024, accused PIDOM of mobilising support for the #EndBadGovernance protest and making false money laundering allegations against President Bola Tinubu.
PIDOM was also accused of violating the Official Secrets Act of 1962 by unlawfully obtaining, retaining, and disseminating classified documents.
The charges also alleged that PIDOM was involved in the unlawful transmission of government documents and spreading false information.
One of the charges claimed that he shared documents suggesting that President Tinubu released N24.1 billion to the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) through Vice President Kashim Shettima’s office, a figure later said to have been inflated to N90 billion.
The prosecution also accused PIDOM of tampering with evidence by destroying his Tecno Phantom X phone and attempting to flush it down a toilet in the hotel where he was arrested.
Court documents further revealed that PIDOM is being accused of spreading false information on social media using his handle @Pidomnigeria, with the intention of causing public disorder.
The police alleged that PIDOM’s message read, “See the document below wherein Tinubu released the sum of N24,143,494,567.32 billion Naira to NAHCON Chairman through Shettima’s office. Because Nigerians didn’t react enough, they went back and increased it to a whopping Ninety Billion Naira. ‘Saraka’ for the men. Free money with the intention of causing the breakdown of law and order.”
Meanwhile, Justice Nwite has ordered PIDOM to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre until September 23, pending a ruling on his bail application filed by his counsel, Deji Adeyanju.
