Hate speech: Don’t turn yourself to Court of Law, Rights’ Activist tells IGP, Police
A renown human rights activist and Executive Chairman, Centre for
Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi
Sulaiman famously known as Revolutionary Alfa has cautioned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris
and Nigeria Police Force(NPF) against turning himself or the Police as
security institution in the country into the Court of law, saying that
only court of competent jurisdiction could identify the constructive
criticism which present ruling All Progressives Congress(APC)
led-Federal Government labeled as “hate speech”.
The rights activist who strongly condemned the position of the Police
boss, stating that the statement was tantamount to gag the Nigeria
people from having access to truth information about the governance of
the country as stipulated by the section 22 and 39 of the amended 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which was the supreme
law of the land, adding that the constitutional provision gave right
to freedom of expression and press where the Freedom of Information
Act garnered its teeth and power.
Comrade Sulaiman, through a signed statement and copies were made
available to newsmen on Thursday, while reacting to the recent
statement credited to the IGP Idris that the offender of hate speech
was risking the jail term of ten (10) years and twenty-five million
naira (N25m) option of fine, rejecting the IGP comment by describing
the statement as dictatorial and hate speech against humanity.
CHRSJ boss who also called on the Police and other security operatives
in the land to adhere strictly with the tenet of democracy as the
international best practices of system of government that gave free
speech to the people of any nation, asking rhetorically the law that
gave power to Nigeria Police to jail for 10 years or collecting
N25million for the option fine over “hate speech”.
He disclosed that what the authority of Nigeria Police in
collaboration with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration tagged
as “Hate speech” was a way to halt freedom of speech and expression by
gagging the voice of the voiceless and opposition in the land, warning
the Police not to allow itself to be used by the present ruling party
(APC) which was the “Father of Hate speech” while in opposition then,
by not laying bad precedents in our polity.
He then urged the police as a respected security institution in the
land not to act in such a way that would truncate the current
democratic experiment by returning the nation back to the dark days of
military era, urging the police to dissipate their energy on how to
curb Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram and other security challenges facing
the country, through the adoption of Intelligent mechanism gathering
so as to nip the crime in bud, instead of looking for political hate
speeches among the politicians because of 2019 general elections.
While carpeting Nigeria Police over the subject matter,Sulaiman
wondered how Cybercrime act 2015 provision would turn to the “hate
speech act” by the Nigeria Police, quoting the primary objective of
the 1999 Constitution as amended to support all his argument that “the
security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of
government” and any government that failed in this direction would
experience constructive criticism which present Buhari’s
administration tagged as “Hate speech
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