Cyberbullying: IG, Sowore case going nowhere, says Falana

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has stated the swimsuit introduced in opposition to the previous presidential candidate of the African Motion Congress, Omoyele Sowore, by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, “goes nowhere.”

Falana stated this on Thursday whereas responding to a query from our correspondent at a workshop on Digital Campaigns and On-line Safety organised by Amnesty Worldwide, Nigeria, at Dover Motels in Ikeja, Lagos.

When requested for his view on the authorized implications of the Cybercrime Act 2015, beneath which some journalists and activists, together with Sowore, are being tried, Falana stated he was able to defend anybody wrongly charged with cybercrime.

He stated, “At present, you can not cost anyone or arrest anyone for defaming a ‘huge man’ beneath the Cybercrime Act. If it occurs anyplace, please tell us in order that the authorities might be taken up.

“The Sowore versus IGP case, you already know that these circumstances will go nowhere, we are saying they’re as useless as ‘dodo.’”

The PidomNigeria stories that Egbetokun had dragged Sowore to a Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja in January for calling him an “unlawful IGP” on his verified X account.

The Nigeria Police Drive argued that the “offence” contradicted Part 24 of the Cybercrime Act of 2015.

Falana, who delved into the historical past of the Act, stated, “The Cybercrime Act of 2015 criminalised even annoyance, that should you annoy a giant man, you could have dedicated an offence, (it criminalised) defamation, insult, that should you insult a giant man, you could have dedicated an offence.

“We challenged the legislation, that Part 24 based mostly on the ECOWAS judgment mandating Nigeria to amend the legislation to respect the rights of Nigerians to specific themselves.

“So in February 2024, the Nationwide Meeting amended the legislation and eliminated insult, annoyance, defamation, and the remainder of them. What we now have beneath Part 24 is any message despatched by way of the pc that incorporates pornographic supplies or false info that’s meant to trigger a breakdown of legislation and order.”

He added, “If I write in opposition to someone, it’s not pornographic, it gained’t result in the breakdown of legislation and order, I’ve solely defamed you, so that you go to court docket, you sue for libel.”

In a associated improvement, the Take It Again Motion, whereas addressing a press convention on the venue, sought the repeal of the Cybercrime Act.

The human rights group’s Nationwide Coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, stated the Act was focused at journalists, activists, and the opposition.

“Wanting on the chain of occasions, the Cybercrime Act has not been an Act about combating cybercrime; it’s a weapon of mass suppression, a digital shackling, designed to silence Nigerians who dare to problem the corrupt and illegitimate powers that be, together with opposition voices, journalists, and younger individuals freely expressing their opinions on TikTok, and X,” Sanyaolu stated.

He famous that Sowore had been “repeatedly hunted by the police utilizing the Act,” citing different individuals, together with human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, Olamide Thomas, Olumide Ogunsanwo, and investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, as “victims of this repressive act.”

“We demand the fast and unconditional repeal of the Cybercrime Act. This oppressive legislation has no place in a free and simply society.

“We demand a direct finish to the persecution of activists, journalists, and residents beneath the guise of imposing the Cybercrime Act,” he added.