The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has ordered the withdrawal of charges filed against Maryam Isah Shehu and Abubakar Shuraim Abdulhamad.
The two young Nigerians were arraigned on Thursday, August 20, 2026, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja on allegations of cybercrime and peddling malicious information against the Commission.
The EFCC had accused them of cyberstalking, an offence contrary to Section 24(2)(c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024), and punishable under Section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the same law.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, Olukoyede directed that the charges be dropped after considering the passionate pleas and apologies from Shehu’s father, as well as appeals from well-meaning Nigerians for leniency.
Shehu is a final-year student of Bayero University, Kano (BUK). Both defendants had pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.
While ordering the withdrawal, the EFCC Chairman warned that the Commission would no longer tolerate any wilful attack on its image in any form, medium or platform. He also assured Nigerians that the EFCC would continue to function in line with its statutory mandate and in the best interests of the nation.
The decision effectively ends the prosecution of the two defendants.
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