A government official in Borno State is being accused of using the police to silence a young man who criticized him online.
Engineer Adam Bababe, the Executive Secretary of the Borno Geographic Information Service (BOGIS), had 26-year-old Suleiman Usman (also known as Sultan) arrested on April 12, 2025. The charges were cyberbullying and defamation.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the arrest was politically motivated. They claim that Suleiman didn’t break any laws and was only expressing his opinion about the government and Bababe’s role in the state’s challenges.
One source said, “This is not about cyberbullying — it’s about silencing someone who speaks his mind. The police are being used to protect political figures and go after those who don’t support them.”
When contacted, Adam Bababe defended his decision. He said Suleiman had been attacking him online since September 2024. According to him, Suleiman posted his photos with insults and false claims, including saying Bababe was to blame for Borno State’s problems.
“In a place like Borno, that kind of statement can put someone’s life at risk,” Bababe said. He also claimed that the social media posts were causing public tension.
Bababe said he had saved the posts as evidence and reported them to the police under the 2023 Borno Penal Code, which considers defamation and cyberbullying as criminal offenses.
He believes the attacks started because of changes his agency made to land policies in Maiduguri. “We stopped corrupt practices in land deals, and some people didn’t like that,” he said.
Suleiman’s lawyer reportedly asked Bababe to treat the matter as a civil case, but Bababe said the law views it as a criminal issue. He also said the lawyer later threatened him.
“He said he would bring me down by any means. That’s why I’m pursuing the case all the way,” Bababe added.
Even though Bababe said he might personally forgive Suleiman, he explained that the case is now in the hands of the police and the court. He insisted that everyone deserves justice and that social media should not be used to destroy others’ reputations.
“I want this to be an example. You can’t just attack someone online and walk away like it’s nothing,” he said.
