EFCC Withdraws Defamation Charges Against Two After ‘Public Appeals’

Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has ordered the withdrawal of charges against Maryam Isah Shehu, a final-year student of Bayero University in Kano, and Abubakar Shuraim Abdulhamad.

A statement on Friday by the anti-graft agency said Olukoyede considered the “passionate pleas and apologies of Shehu’s father and appeals of well-meaning Nigerians for leniency”.

“To this end, he has directed that charges filed against the two young Nigerians be dropped and warned that the EFCC would no longer tolerate any wilful attack on its image in any form, medium or platform,” the statement reads.

“The EFCC’s boss assured Nigerians that the Commission would continue to function in line with its assigned mandate and in the best interests of the nation.”

THE CASE

On Thursday, Shehu and Abdulhamad were arraigned at the federal high court in Abuja over alleged cybercrime and peddling malicious information against the commission.

Shehu was arraigned on one-count charge bordering on alleged cybercrime and character assassination of the EFCC through her Instagram account.

According to the charge sheet, the student was accused of publishing a message via her Instagram account allegedly intended to tarnish the reputation of the anti-graft agency.

“That you Maryam Isah Shehu on or about 21st June 2026, at Abuja, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, intentionally sent a message by means of a social network service via your Instagram account (@maryam_shehu) containing a message which was intended to tarnish the reputation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, when you published that EFCC officials Assault Ahmed Uthman under the instruction of a Zonal Director who allegedly collected N20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Naira) from one Usman lya Abbas and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24(2) (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended) 2024 and punishable under Section 24 (2) (c) (ii) of the same Act,” the charge sheet reads.

Abdulhamad was arraigned on a one-count charge bordering on defamation of character and false publication.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Joyce Abdulmalik, the trial judge, ordered that Shehu be remanded at the Suleja correctional centre, while Abdulhamad was remanded at the Kuje correctional centre.

The case was adjourned to August 31, 2026, for hearing of the defendants’ bail applications and commencement of trial.