The Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of Tunji Disu has intensified its weaponization of the Cybercrimes Act against Nigerians, with its National Cybercrime Centre Nigeria Police Force Nigeria Police Force – National Cybercrime Center commanded by Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Akaninyene Ezima leading the charge.
Citizens are now being arrested and detained over the most ridiculous allegations, including accusations of insulting one another’s mothers, even when those mothers are deceased!
Since last weekend, the Kaduna State Police Command has held former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Atiku Abubakar Isah, over cybercrime allegations. Yesterday, he was remanded in Keffi prison and brutalized after arraignment following what was a highly questionable arraignment.
The police are turning the Cybercrimes Act promulgated in 2015 into another instrument of oppression, just as they weaponized SARS to wage war against Nigerian youths until the people fought back during the historic #EndSARS uprising of October 2020.
The Nigeria Police Force must desist immediately! Disagreements, criticism, insults, and social media exchanges must not become excuses for arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, and politically motivated prosecutions.
The police must stop criminalizing freedom of expression and suppressing the constitutional rights of Nigerians, particularly social media users.
We resisted SARS. We will resist this new machinery of repression!