“I do not know any name called PIDOM NIGERIA and as such, I do not have any association or connection whatsoever with the aforementioned name. Also, I do not know any name called TRUTHFULLY83 and as such, I do not have any association or connection whatsoever with the name. I know nothing about the creation of a Twitter account called the 99% OPPRESSED. In other words, I am not in any way involved in membership of the aforementioned Twitter account.”
These words, excerpts from a statement Isaac Bristol gave the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), have gained extra weight as he leaves custody to go about his business on bail.
The NPF wants to convince Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja that Bristol and @PIDOMNigeria, an online personality on X, are one and the same person.
They say via their charge sheet that Bristol used the handle to sponsor terrorism through the #EndBadGovernance protest, breach the Official Secrets Act (OSA), and involve himself in money laundering.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Police Pick PIDOM for Arraignment in Court
The police have had him in their custody since August 5. However, the X account published posts on August 6, 8, 9, and 16. It also reposted an Elon Musk post on August 17.
@PIDOMNigeria’s X activity
The last of its 7,386 posts was one made by investigative journalist David Hundeyin detailing how an unknown person used the account to reach him, saying the police arrested Bristol.
This post suggested that whoever was behind the account had lost control of it and could no longer post with that persona. The person who reached Hundeyin also lost whatever control they may have had.
READ MORE: I’m Not PIDOM, Isaac Bristol Insists
Meanwhile, Hundeyin eventually distanced himself from the account. “FYI: I am no longer in control of the @PIDOMNigeria handle. The password and security details are under new custody,” he posted on September 4. This leaves an unanswered question — whose?
WHO HAS ACCESS?
Since the September 4 post, there has been no activity on the now-controversial account, fuelling its mystery even more.
If someone has access to that account, they certainly are not using it for whatever reasons. Has the government scared the handler into hiding? Is someone intent on letting Bristol stand trial in their stead? Would the account jerk back to life now that Bristol is out?
With the PIDOMNigeria saga, there are more questions than answers right now, and although the police feel convinced they have their man. If they are right, then at least three people have posted with the account in one month.
If Bristol, according to the police, made posts about the protest, then he used the account until his August 5 abduction. During his incarceration, more posts surfaced, and unless the police handed him a device with internet access, someone else posted them.
READ MORE: Police Name David Hundeyin as Accomplice in Cybercrimes Charges Against ‘PIDOM’
So, if the police are right, three people have used this account, and there may be a fourth if none of the first two got this access.
OPTIONS
Bristol’s entire legal defence currently hangs on the claim he is not PIDOMNigeria, and while the onus of proof falls on the prosecutor, it is important to highlight that in law, truths and facts are not as important as the elimination of reasonable doubt.
Both parties will spar against each other in front of Nwite at the next adjourned date, but whatever happens between now and then could either help or hurt the prosecution’s case.
If whoever is behind the account makes a post again, then their actions or utterances may be admissible in court. Worse still, such new post could then be linked to Bristol’s freedom from detention, and may or may not be proof that Bristol is PIDOM.
So far, Bristol has maintained oblivion, and his last comment on the matter was, “I do not know any name called PIDOM NIGERIA”.
All eyes will therefore be on that X account, going forward.
The post What Next for @PIDOMNigeria Now that Isaac Bristol Is Free? appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.