The Federal High Court in Abuja stalled the bail hearing for activist Justice Crack on Thursday, May 14, 2026, after two lawyers stood up to announce appearances for him and disagreed over who should lead the defence. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik had moved the matter up from its earlier adjourned date of May 25.
Olufemi Balogun and Marshal Abubakar both rose before the court, but Abdulmalik asked who was leading the case and Crack pointed to Balogun. Abubakar then withdrew from the matter and withdrew the applications he had filed, leaving the pending bail application as the only one before the court. Balogun said he would file a fresh bail application.
The dispute stopped the hearing in its tracks, Daily Trust reported, and turned what should have been a routine bail proceeding into a fight over control of the defence. Balogun said the family of the activist had directed him to take charge because he was senior at the Bar. He also said Abubakar withdrew the bail bid because he was not allowed to lead the proceedings, adding: “Today the matter was supposed to be for hearing of the bail application. However, I was directed by the family to lead in respect of the matter for today.” He said further: “I was with Marshall at the last court sitting, but Marshall is my junior. I’m a senior at the bar. There were some other senior counsels at the last time, but he insisted on leading everyone despite the fact that in law, there’s seniority at the bar.”
Crack’s case has been moving through the courts since his arrest on April 28, 2026, when officers of the Nigerian Army picked him up after he left home. He was held incommunicado for four days, before the Army said his alleged offence bordered on subversion and handed him over to the Department of State Services for further investigation and arraignment. He was later arraigned on charges said to border on cyber-related offences, including one count under Section 24(b) of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015, over a post on his social media handle @JusticeCrack that allegedly spread false information about the feeding of Nigerian Army personnel.
The setback matters because the only pending bail application was withdrawn, leaving Crack without an active bid for release until a fresh one is filed and heard. Abdulmalik adjourned the matter to May 18, 2026, for hearing, and ordered the prosecution to open its case that same day or have the matter struck out for want of diligent prosecution. For now, the next step is clear: the defence must return with a fresh bail application, and the prosecution must be ready to proceed or risk losing the case.
Justice Crack: Arrest of social-media user leads to DSS remand in Abuja
