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One Amira Safiyanu will spend one year in psychiatric care after pleading guilty on Wednesday to posting false information about her kidnap thereby misleading the public and the police.
She admitted to the offence on Wednesday upon her arraignment by the Nigeria police, before the Magistrate court Wuse, Abuja.
After pleading guilty, the Police counsel, James Idachaba, urged the court to give the suspect non-custodial imprisonment, in line with Section 44 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Idachaba held that a medical report obtained by the police showed she had a mental illness as at the time she shared her fake kidnap story on June 14 through her Twitter page.
The prosecution counsel further prayed the court to put the lady under police supervision for now.
Her lawyer did not oppose the submission of the prosecution.
Subsequently, Magistrate Chukwuemeka Nweke ordered that she should be released conditionally to a probation officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police Hauwa Ibrahim, for 12-month psychiatric care.
Recall that Sufiyanu on June 14 tweeted about her alleged kidnap, and gave live coordinates suggesting the movement of her captors.
She was subsequently found in Lagos by security operatives, and detained by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command for proper investigation.
The police said Sufiyanu while in custody had access to medical examinations.
The ruling of the court, however, further confirms the report by this website that Safiyanu may have misled the public due to her mental challenge.
THE WHISTLER had observed that a month before the false alarm, her tweets suggested that she may have been grappling with her mental health.
This is despite describing herself on her Twitter handle , @Ameera_Sufyan, as a psychotherapist.
Meanwhile, the FCT Police on Wednesday said the outcome of her medical evaluation will be made available to the public.
