The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of Bayelsa blogger Saint Meinpamo, who is the proprietor of Naijalivetv.com, in the Kuje Correctional Centre. He is facing a trial on three-count charges related to alleged willful libel, threats, causing danger, and insults against Major General Barry Ndiomu (retd), the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
In the beginning of the hearing on Thursday, Meinpamo pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him. The charges accuse him of intentionally and knowingly sending false messages/posts via a computer system network through his Facebook page, “Mienpamo Onitsha Saint,” in September 2023. These messages allege a vote of no confidence on Ndiomu as Amnesty Delegate, claiming that he was strangled to death by Ndiomu’s associates in Abuja. This act was done with the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, ill will, and needless anxiety to Major General Barry Ndiomu (Retd).
The charges also accuse Meinpamo of knowingly and intentionally transmitting and causing the transmission of a communication via a computer system network through a public Facebook page known as Bayelsa Focus Group. This communication, again alleging a vote of no confidence on Ndiomu as Amnesty Delegate, was aimed at bullying, threatening, and harassing Major General Barry Ndiomu (Retd) and caused him to fear death, violence, and bodily harm.
These actions are considered offenses punishable under the cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015. The court has ordered Meinpamo’s remand as the legal proceedings continue.
