A human rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, has faulted the arrest of a 32-year-old man, Kabiru Mohammed, suspected to be the mastermind of a video purported to be that of a wedding between the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and two female ministers. Akinyode described Mohammed’s arrest as a monumental abuse of public office and an indirect affront on citizens’ liberty to engage government without restraint. The Public Relations Officer of the Department of State Services, Dr Peter Afunaya, had on Friday confirmed the arrest of the suspect who was paraded at the DSS headquarters in Abuja. READ ALSO: Police exhume remains of LASU undergradHe stated that after months of discreet investigations, officials of the agency apprehended Mohammed, who had allegedly confessed to initiating, creating and circulating the fake and embarrassing video. But Akinyode, in a statement, said, “Under the Nigerian jurisprudence, libel or defamation could indeed be criminal.

Source: Punch January 05, 2020 02:48 UTC