A final-year student of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Maryam Isah Shehu, has been remanded in prison custody by the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations that she “cyberbullied” the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an Instagram post, just days before she is due to sit her final examinations.
Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore condemned the EFCC on Thursday, accusing the anti-graft agency of becoming an institution that targets citizens for criticism rather than pursuing its core mandate of fighting corruption.
Sowore made the remarks after attending two separate court sittings before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, where Shehu and a second defendant were arraigned on cyberbullying-related charges. According to Sowore, both defendants had already spent close to 30 days in EFCC detention before being brought to court. Rather than being granted bail to return home while their cases proceed, both were remanded in prison custody — Shehu at Suleja Prison and the second defendant at Kuje Prison — with both expected to remain there until August 31.
“What makes Maryam’s situation even more disturbing is that she is a final-year university student who is due to begin her final examinations this Saturday,” Sowore said. “None of that appeared to matter.”
He described the EFCC under Chairman Ola Olukoyede as “inherently evil,” arguing that an anti-corruption agency should be focused on investigating and prosecuting corruption rather than detaining citizens over criticism or alleged cyberbullying. “An anti-corruption agency should be fighting corruption, not turning itself into an institution for hunting down, detaining and prosecuting citizens over criticism or alleged ‘cyberbullying,'” he said. “What kind of institution detains a university student for nearly a month, arraigns her for allegedly cyberbullying the agency, and then seeks to keep her behind bars while her final examinations are about to begin?”
Court documents show the EFCC has filed an amended charge against Shehu at the Federal High Court, listed as Charge No. CR 514/2026, between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Maryam Isah Shehu. The amended charge is dated August 20, 2026. According to the charge, Shehu allegedly sent a message via her Instagram account, @maryam_shehu, on or about June 21, 2026, intended to tarnish the EFCC’s reputation. The post reportedly alleged that EFCC officials assaulted a suspect, Ahmed Uthman, on the instruction of a zonal director who allegedly collected ₦20 million from one Usman Iya Abbas.
She has been charged under Section 24(2)(c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended 2024), punishable under Section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the same Act. Sowore said the circumstances surrounding Shehu’s detention illustrate an abuse of power by an agency established to fight financial crimes.
