SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how Sidi was arrested for “embarrassing" Governor Aliyu, on social media.
A Sokoto-based critic, Hamdiyya Sidi, being prosecuted by Governor Ahmed Aliyu’s administration for allegedly making inciting statements, has made a U-turn and issued a public apology to the state government.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how Sidi was arrested for “embarrassing" Governor Aliyu, on social media.
She was subsequently arraigned secretly without having access to a lawyer nor family members, a source had said.
The woman had in a video lamented the insecurity in the state and demanded an end to the incessant killings by bandits.
She revealed how gunmen took over villages without any restraint and added that displaced women seeking refuge in the state capital were being sexually exploited due to abject poverty.
In a video shared on social media, Sidi stated in Hausa, “My name is Hamdiyya Sidi Sheriff from Sokoto state, Wurno Local Government Area.
“I am the individual who recently created a video highlighting the pressing issues of insecurity and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sokoto State.
“I’m apologising as a woman and a Muslim from Sokoto because I used some words in the video when I made reference to the governor’s wife and his family.
“The words are too heavy considering my age. The words weren't supposed to have come from me.
“And the other comment I made that the IDPs should move into government facilities and occupy them, I regret saying that too.
“Please for God's sake, I'm sorry, nobody has the right to move into or occupy a government facility without due process and permission.
“For the government, governor and anyone that my comment has affected, I'm sorry, please forgive me.”
Sokoto is one of states in Northern Nigeria plagued by bandits who raid and loot villages, kill residents and burn houses to the ground.