Rhoda Jatau has been freed from detention after a global outcry over her ordeal gripped Nigerian authorities, but the state did not appear ready to drop its controversial charges hinged on alleged insults to Prophet Muhammad. 

The 46-year-old mother of five has been in prison since May 20, 2022, when she posted a WhatsApp message condemning the public lynching of a Christian college student and was seized from her home by agents of the State Security Service, Nigeria’s domestic intelligence outfit with longstanding notoriety for rights suppression and extra-judicial execution of government critics. 

The International Organisation for Peace and Social Justice, a UK-based non-profit that helped coordinate advocacy for Mrs Jatau’s freedom, announced her release on conditional terms Friday night. 

“We have just received confirmation that Rhoda Jatau has been released on bail to her family today,” the group said. “To everyone who lent their voice, time, finance and resources to support the #FreeRhoda campaign, this is a ray of victory for all of us.”

Mrs Jatau, a healthcare worker, would be expected back in court on November 19 to continue standing trial over the blasphemy charges brought by Bauchi government, according to her lawyers in the northeastern state. 

Her case received worldwide outrage among Christian solidarity groups last month after she was denied bail by the judge handling the matter. The bail application followed an argument by her court for the case to be dismissed because Mrs Jatau was exercising her fundamental rights to speech when she expressed outrage over Deborah Samuel’s murder by Islamic fanatics at Shehu Shagari College in Sokoto. Ms Samuel was accused of posting purportedly derogatory comments on a WhatsApp group for students. 

The government said Mrs Jatau’s action constituted blasphemy, which attracts severe punishment, including jail term, in Bauchi and other parts of northern Nigeria. She was accused of posting messages that insulted Prophet Muhammad on the staff WhatsApp group of Primary Healthcare Authority of Warji Local Government Area. 

“You, therefore, committed the aforestated offence contrary to Sections 114, 210 of the Penal Code Law and Section 24 subsection 15(b) of Cybercrime Prohibition Prevention Act 2015,” the charge read. 

Even though the lynching and incineration of Ms Samuel’s remains went viral after being captured by bystanders, no suspects have been held to account, and police sources told Peoples Gazette that the prime suspect fled Nigeria to neighbouring Niger Republic after the crime.  

The Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss advocacy group that also ramped up pressure for Mrs Jatau’s release, chronicled her family’s ordeal during her prolonged detention, with her husband lamenting in November 2022 that he had barely had any sleep since the crisis began. 

A spokesman for the Bauchi government did not immediately return a request seeking comments. But a state official familiar with the matter told The Gazette on Saturday morning that Governor Bala Muhammad was interested in a thorough prosecution of the matter if only to discourage other state employees from similar utterances in the future.

“What she said on the WhatsApp group was seen as a serious matter by the governor,” the official said under anonymity to comment without authorisation. “He didn’t want employees of the state ridiculing the Prophet in a state that is mostly Muslim. He has been very keen on a peaceful coexistence among all residents, but it should be done with respect.”