By Solomon Azu
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – A Cross River State Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting at Moore Road, Calabar, presided over by Chief Magistrate E. Ecoma, has declined jurisdiction to hear and determine a four-count charge brought by the Nigeria Police Force, Calabar, against Media Personality and former Special Assistant Media to the immediate past Governor of Cross River State Miss Ursula Onah Agbor.
The Police had in Suit no MC/300c/2025 charged the defendant to court on four count charge of impersonation, intimidation, defamation of character and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace all of which she pleaded NOT GUILTY.
In a considered ruling delivered today, 13 August 2025, Chief Magistrate Ecoma upheld the submission of Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, learned counsel to Miss Agbor, that the four-count charge preferred against the Defendant was incompetent, vague and incurably defective due to the failure to provide sufficient particulars to enable the Defendant to adequately defend herself—an omission that constitutes a violation of her fundamental right to fair hearing as entrenched in Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and section 216 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Cross River State 2016.
The Chief Magistrate, therefore, struck out the case for want of jurisdiction, incurable bad and lacking in substance and thereby discharged and acquainted the defendant accordingly.
She, however, cautioned all parties involved in the matter to sheathe their sword as she would not allow the court to be dragged into anyone’s vendetta.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the victory, counsel to the defendant, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla said Miss Agbor was subjected to a relentless campaign of calumny, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying on Facebook, which pushed her mental health to the brink.
He said the perpetrators, motivated by envy, jealousy, or sheer wickedness, used false and trumped-up charges to destroy her reputation.
“As you heard, the court has thrown out all the charges, vindicating my client of any wrongdoing, highlighting the need for greater awareness and action against cyberbullying in Nigeria.
He condemned the actions of the perpetrators, stating that cyberbullying is a crime under Nigerian law. He emphasised that the law serves as an instrument of social harmony and freedom, and not as a tool for oppression.
