The Nigeria police have charged a controversial
blogger, Kemi Olunloyo, with cyber crime on account of a recent post in which
she accused David Ibiyeomie, a pastor based in Port Harcourt, the capital of
Rivers State, of adultery.
In an Instagram post, she made last Tuesday, Ms.
Olunloyo disclosed that the police arrested her in Port Harcourt and detained
her after the pastor complained that she defamed his character in a recent
post. Ms. Olunloyo, a daughter of former Governor Victor Omololu Olunloyo of Oyo
State, had posted a letter written by a member of Mr. Ibiyeomie’s church in
which the pastor was accused of a series of misconduct, including infidelities.
GIS also learned that a reporter from Rivers State was
also charged alongside Ms. Olunloyo.
The blogger will remain in detention until March 23,
2017, when she is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing.
In an online post on Thursday, the bloggers stated that
police officers arrived at her home in Ibadan to arrest her. She stated that
the officers took her to the Oyo State Criminal Investigative Department (CID)
before they drove her to Port Harcourt.In the last few months, there has been a
spike in the arrests of journalists, bloggers, and activists by the Nigerian
police, often at the behest of powerful individuals or interests. Earlier this
week, Chocolate City Entertainment boss, Audu Maikori, was arrested again and
taken to Abuja over tweets he posted regarding grave attacks on his relatives
in Southern Kaduna. Mr. Maikori is being charged with attempting to “incite”
violence.
A few weeks ago, the police stormed the Abuja offices
of Premium Times, an online newspaper, and briefly detained two of its editors
and reporters. The publisher of GIS, Omoyele Sowore, was also harassed by the
police in Lagos on the basis of a complaint about a report published on his
website.
International media watch organizations, including the
Committee for the Protection of Journalists, have voiced concern over an
apparent systematic assault on free press and freedom of expression in Nigeria.
The Nigeria
police have charged a controversial blogger, Kemi Olunloyo, with cyber crime on
account of a recent post in which she accused David Ibiyeomie, a pastor based
in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, of adultery.
In an Instagram post, she made last Tuesday, Ms.
Olunloyo disclosed that the police arrested her in Port Harcourt and detained
her after the pastor complained that she defamed his character in a recent
post. Ms. Olunloyo, a daughter of former Governor Victor Omololu Olunloyo of
Oyo State, had posted a letter written by a member of Mr. Ibiyeomie’s church in
which the pastor was accused of a series of misconduct, including infidelities.
GIS also learned that a reporter from Rivers State was
also charged alongside Ms. Olunloyo.
The blogger will remain in detention until March 23,
2017, when she is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing.
In an online post on Thursday, the bloggers stated that
police officers arrived at her home in Ibadan to arrest her. She stated that
the officers took her to the Oyo State Criminal Investigative Department (CID)
before they drove her to Port Harcourt.In the last few months, there has been a
spike in the arrests of journalists, bloggers, and activists by the Nigerian
police, often at the behest of powerful individuals or interests. Earlier this
week, Chocolate City Entertainment boss, Audu Maikori, was arrested again and
taken to Abuja over tweets he posted regarding grave attacks on his relatives
in Southern Kaduna. Mr. Maikori is being charged with attempting to “incite”
violence.
A few weeks ago, the police stormed the Abuja offices
of Premium Times, an online newspaper, and briefly detained two of its editors
and reporters. The publisher of SR, Omoyele Sowore, was also harassed by the
police in Lagos on the basis of a complaint about a report published on his
website.
International media watch organizations, including the
Committee for the Protection of Journalists, have voiced concern over an
apparent systematic assault on free press and freedom of expression in Nigeria.
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