Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has challenged the Nigeria Police Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, to cite any law that criminalises online insults.
Earlier, The New Daily Prime reported Adejobi’s tweet, where he claimed that cursing someone online constitutes cyberbullying, a criminal offence punishable by law.
His tweet read: “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 punishable. Be guided.”
Reacting to Adejobi’s statement, Effiong retweeted the police spokesperson’s tweet, adding, “This is ignorance of the law raised to the power of 1,000.”
He labelled Adejobi’s remark as absurd and devoid of any legal basis.
“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.
“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”, said the lawyer.
READ ALSO: Raining curses on someone online is criminal offence – Police
According to him, Adejobi has a pattern of fabricating imaginary offences, noting that curses do not pose any threat to the life of the person being cursed.
He further stated that curses hold no legal weight or significance because they are rooted in superstition or, at best, attributed to supernatural forces.
He said, “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 Police 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wordings of the provisions of the old Section 24 which the police has been using to witch-hunt critics has been repealed.”
Effiong urged Nigerians to dismiss Adejobi’s “misleading statement”, describing it as baseless adding, “What a shame.”
