A human rights lawyer, Muyiwa Adejobi has come under fire over a threat he made against Nigerians who insult others online, saying it is a criminal offence.
Adejobi posted via his X handle on Thursday, saying: “Raining direct curses on someone online is cyberbullying, not expression of freedom or criticism. And cyberbullying, which is even different from defamation, is a criminal offence and is punishable. Be guided.”
However, human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong said that raining curses via social media is not a criminal offence. He challenged the Force PRO to cite the law supporting his claim. He said the Force PRO displayed monumental ignorance in the claim.
Hear him: “This is ignorance of the law raised to power 1000. The fact that this very ridiculous opinion is from the spokesperson of the primary law enforcement agency in Nigeria says a lot about the decadence of our institutions.
He accused the Force PRO of having a history of inventing imaginary offences from his head.
“To be clear, raining curses on someone is not a criminal offence, and I challenge the Force PRO to cite any law that supports his statement.
“By virtue of Section 36 (12) of the Nigerian Constitution, for an act or omission of be termed a crime, it must be expressly and specifically defined as such under a written law.
“This Force PRO has a history of inventing imaginary offences from his head.
“Also, curses do not constitute threat to the life of the person that is cursed.
“Curses do not have effect or value in the eyes of the law for the simple reason that they are premised on superstition, or at best the supernatural forces.
“For example, telling someone “it shall not be well with you” is a prayer; prayer can be positive or negative. Wishing someone evil is also not a matter for legal redress.
“The law does not concern itself with trifling things or spiritual matters. What is more appalling is the fact that the supposed image maker of the @PoliceNG does not know that the Cybercrimes Act had since been amended, and that the notorious wordings of the provisions of the old Section 24 which the police has been using to witch-hunt critics has been repealed. I urge Nigerians to ignore the misleading statement of @Princemoye1 as same is baseless. What a shame!”
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