Bauchi high court dismisses blasphemy, cybercrime charges against Rhoda Jatau

Bauchi high court dismisses blasphemy, cybercrime charges against Rhoda Jatau

Rhoda Jatau, a health worker resident in Warji Local Council, Bauchi State, has been discharged and acquitted after a Bauchi High Court found her not to be guilty of the cybercrime, blasphemy and religious disturbance charges filed against her following a two-year trial.

Jatau was arrested and detained on May 24, 2022, after residents of the area accused her of blasphemy for sharing a video of someone condemning the lynching of Deborah Samuel, a 200 Level student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.

Sean Nelson, the legal counsel for Global Religious Freedom at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), shared on his X page on Thursday that Jatau was freed after the Bauchi High Court found her not guilty of the charges.

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He stated that the court dismissed the charges against her on December 10 although she was granted bail a year earlier.

Jatau, who spoke in the five-minute-long video attached to the post, said after she shared the video condemning the murder of Samuel, Muslims who were offended by it visited her home and burnt it down.

“That was when the crises started. They went on and burnt our houses and so many places. A day after, on Tuesday the 24th, they took me to prison after taking me to court. They charged me for cybercrime, blasphemy and religious disturbance,” Jatau said.

Jatau, who is also a mother of five, said no one except her lawyer was allowed to visit her and described the treatment she received in prison as terrible.

“There are many things that are not enjoyable in that place. One cannot explain. It is just too bad,” she said.

She was released on December 9, 2023, after spending 19 months in detention. Her release followed interventions from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and the Christian Solidarity Worldwide who criticised her unjust persecution.

The prosecution of Jatau by the Bauchi State Government was only made public in November 2023, about 18 months after she had been detained.

On November 29, 2023, FIJ reported how the health worker was arrested and charged under sections 114 and 210 of the state penal code, and section 24, subsection 1b(i) of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act of 2015 with inciting public disturbance, exciting the contempt of religious creed and cyberstalking.

Bauchi high court dismisses blasphemy, cybercrime charges against Rhoda Jatau