DSS Files Terrorism Charges Against Shehu Mahdi

Kehinde Fajobi

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a five-count terrorism-related charge against Shehu Mahdi, a political commentator and public affairs analyst, at the Federal High Court in Kaduna State.

The charges include false publication aimed at inciting public panic, dissemination of terrorism-related misinformation, and using social media to spread false claims regarding national security threats.

The DSS secured an ex parte order permitting Mahdi’s detention for 60 days to allow further investigation under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.

Mahdi was arrested in December after uploading a video on December 14, alleging that President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of a French military base in northern Nigeria.

The video, which featured a Nigerian Army officer speaking Hausa alongside a foreign soldier in the background, was later deleted.

Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, and Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, dismissed the allegations as “baseless.”

CableCheck, an independent fact-checking platform, also verified the claims, confirming they were false.

Reports of French military deployment to Maiduguri, Borno State, for a base establishment were debunked.

Mahdi was first remanded by a magistrate court in Kaduna on January 1. However, a high court later granted him bail on January 9, with conditions including ₦30 million bond and two sureties, who must be prominent Islamic clerics.