Nigerian Police Spokesperson Olumayiwa Adejobi has triggered debates on the internet from his recent post on his Twitter handle.
Adejobi in his post warned against cyberbullying, stating that raining curses on someone online cannot be passed as an expression of freedom or criticism, but cyberbullying.
He explained that cyberbullying is a criminal offence according to the law, and its a punishable offence.
The police Spokesperson wrote: “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.”
The statement has drawn massive attention and sparked lots of reactions.
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Recently, there have been a lot of negative revelations about the operations and actions of the Nigerian policemen, especially since the testimony of the British Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch on her experience with the Nigerian police, where as reported by Igbo Tv, she said the police stole her brother’s shoes and watch.
A lot of Nigerians began sharing their experiences with the policemen in Nigeria, putting the force in bad light. The testimonies got to the Inspector General of the Police, Kayode Egbtokun, who ordered that all arbitrary arrests, checking of phones by the police be prohibited.
Reacting to the statement made by the police PRO, Nigeria’s Human Rights lawyer and winner of the Most Outstanding Legal Luminary 2024, Inibehe Effiong, slammed the officer for his ignorance of the law.
Inibehe Effiong pointed out that there is no where it is stated in the constitution that raining curses on someone is a criminal offence.
He went ahead to charge the spokesperson to cite any law that supports his statement.
The lawyer noted that Section 36 (12) of the Nigerian Constitution, states that, for an act or omission of be termed a crime, it must be expressly and specifically defined as such under a written law.
But what the spokesperson termed as criminal offence is not defined in the constitution, because “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 Nigeria Police Force 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,” Inibehe Effiong wrote on his Facebook page.
The lawyer urged Nigerians to ignore the misleading statement of the Force PRO because it is baseless.
