A Nigerian student who was arrested for allegedly accusing the first lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari, of squandering public funds in a tweet has had all charges against him dropped.
Aminu Adamu was charged by the government with spreading “false” information and defamation, which he vigorously rejected.
The prosecution withdrew the accusation at a high court in Abuja on Friday, according to his attorney Chijioke Kingsley Agu, who spoke to the BBC.
Mr Agu said his client has been discharged on “compassionate grounds” and that they were “in the process of his release” on Friday evening.
The 24-year-old undergraduate’s detention and subsequent charge had caused outcry in Nigeria, with many social media users and advocates for human rights demanding his immediate release.
On Thursday Amnesty International said the student was subjected to “torture” and other forms of “ill-treatment” after his arrest, calling it a “deeply repressive act” that “brazenly violates his human rights”.
Nigerian authorities have not yet commented on these allegations.
He is studying Environmental Management at the Federal University in Dutse, in the northern state of Jigawa, and is due to start his final exams on Monday.