Reports recently emerged of the arrest of 16-year-old Umar Garba for allegedly insulting Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, on social media.
Although the governor has ordered the release of the young Garba, the move is coming ten days after his arrest by police operatives in the state.
The arrest, which was carried out on 11 December, 2022, became public knowledge on 19 December after his father, Garba Isa, called on police authorities to release his son.
The Commissioner of Police, Yobe State, Garba Haruna, had admitted that the suspect was in custody and would be charged to court after the conclusion of investigations.
He said, ‘You cannot use social media and begin to post all sorts of things. There is law and order in Nigeria, whoever infringes on someone’s right will be punished’.
Human right violation
A similar incident occurred in November when the wife of Nigeria’s president, Aisha Buhari, ordered the arrest and detention of a Nigerian student, Aminu Muhammad, over an alleged defamatory social media post.
Also in November, two TikTok users were arrested over videos they made criticising the Governor of Kano State, northwest Nigeria, Abdullahi Ganduje.
This seems to be the recent trend among those in power to clamp down on critics, which is anti-democratic.
According to the Nigerian Constitution and also the UN Human Rights declaration, it is a violation of human right to arrest someone over freedom of expression.
Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution states that ‘every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference…’.
Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory, Article Nine states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
The arrest of a minor is clearly a violation of human rights and politicians and people in power should be called to order and made to respect these rights.
Politicians and public officeholders should not be averse to contributions and criticisms from citizens, provided they are constructive and meaningful.
However, clamping down or arbitrarily arresting persons over free speech because it does not go well with a politician or public officeholder is an act that should stop.
