A federal high court in Calabar has dismissed the criminal charges preferred against Agba Jalingo, publisher of CrossRiverWatch.
Jalingo was first arraigned on August 22, 2019, after he published a story on how Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, allegedly approved and diverted N500 million meant for the state’s microfinance bank.
Following an outcry, Ayade denied involvement in the trial of Jalingo, but said the federal government was behind the journalist’s case over his involvement in the #RevolutionNow protest led by Omoyele Sowore.
Jalingo was charged with conspiracy, terrorism, treasonable felony and an attempt to topple the state government.
Jalingo had spent 174 days in detention before a federal high court in Calabar granted him bail in the sum of N10 million.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Ijeoma Ojukwu, the judge, discharged Jalingo following an application by the prosecutor who sought to withdraw the charge.
John Ogban, director of public prosecution in the state, told the court that he received the directive of Tanko Ashang, Cross River attorney-general, to discontinue the case.
Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, counsel to the defendant, did not object to the verbal application and commended the directive.
“We commend the honourable attorney-general of the state for taking this decision. We are happy that our harassment has ended,” Olumide-Fusika said.
Speaking with journalists after the ruling, Jalingo insisted he was innocent and decried the length of time he spent in jail because of what he described as “a sham trial”.
“I knew from day one that I did not commit the offence, I knew it was just a matter of time for the court to throw the matter away,” he said.
“It’s just painful that our system is skewed in this manner where three years of my time has been wasted coming from Lagos to Calabar because of a sham trial.
“Their intention was to scare me, push me until I break. So the lesson I have learnt is that it is better to hold on. Even when at the breaking point, take a deep breath, pray to God, believe in God, and ask him to give you strength.
“I think today, the person that will really feel bad is the governor of Cross River State and those who locked me up. Wherever they are now, I think their conscience is talking to them.”
