The prominent anonymous whistleblower PIDOM Nigeria, has finally been officially charged with a series of surprisingly lightweight alleged offenses including promoting the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protest and “money laundering.”
It will be recalled that PIDOM, alleged by the Nigeria Police Force to be Isaac Bristol, was secretly abducted in Port Harcourt on August 5 by a team of 15 heavily armed men in mufti acting under the auspices of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC).
In a document released on Monday, the Nigerian government charged Bristol with 9 counts in total, most of which centred around his sharing of classified documents on his X account. PIDOM is popularly known for exposing several irregularities of high-profile public officials on his X account.
Last week, West Africa Weekly reported that Bristol’s health has rapidly deteriorated after torture and punitive starvation in solitary confinement, leaving him in a poor and worsening physical state.
Since the news of Bristol’s detention broke on August 19, prominent Nigerian voices have continuously demanded for his unconditional release. Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, warned that Nigeria risks becoming a “banana republic” if actions like PIDOM’s abduction continue unchecked.
The charge sheet can be found below:
Read More:
- PIDOMNigeria Denied Access To Legal Team, To Be Transferred To Dark Site
- Police Fail To Arraign PIDOM This Week As Promised
- #FreePIDOMNigeria: Brother Speaks, Gives Account Of PIDOM’s Abduction