More pressure has been mounted on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to release a blogger, Abubakar Sidiq Usman, who the commission said it is detaining for an alleged cyber-stalking of its chairman, Ibrahim Magu.
However, the family and associates of Usman had said that Usman’s ordeal cannot be severed from a critical report on Magu he published on his blog.
Reacting to the arrest in a series of tweets on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stated that the action of the EFCC shows that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has no respect for the constitutional rights and freedoms of Nigerians.
While calling on the commission to release the blogger who was arrested yesterday, the opposition party held that, “arresting and detaining journalists, bloggers, opinion shapers & influencers is definitely not the way to go.”
It maintained that instead of the arrest, Usman should have been charged to court by the present administration if he published any falsehood on his website.
Some of the tweets read: “Our concern is founded on the following premises: @MrAbuSidiq was arrested after publishing an article in which he claimed.
“While he has been granted administrative bail, he is still in custody as a result of the stringent terms thereof #FreeAbusidiq
“We are deeply concerned about the arrest & detention of @MrAbuSidiq, a popular blogger by @officialefcc for more than 30hrs #FreeAbuSidiq
“He was arrested in the middle of the night by heavily armed men in the presence of his wife & children. #FreeAbuSidiq
“A free press is the fourth pillar of any democracy & we lend our voices to calls for respect
“The @MBuhari admin is showing that it has no respect for the constitutional rights & freedoms of the Nigerian people.
“While we are aware that @MrAbuSidiq is a pro-APC & has published a number of false stories about our party.”
Lending its voice to the call for the release of Usman, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, requested the EFCC to “immediately and unconditionally release blogger Abubakar Usman who is detained simply for exercising his constitutional and internationally recognised right to freedom of expression.”
In a statement on Tuesday by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, SERAP said, “This action by the EFCC is unequivocally contrary to both section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party. The EFCC must now immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Usman and drop all charges against him.
“Nigeria’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression. Under international law, everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. SERAP believes that no one should be arrested simply for criticising public institution or public figures.
“The EFCC and indeed all public institutions should proactively encourage freedom of expression to enhance their ability to fight corruption but also to maintain the sanctity of the constitution and Nigeria’s international obligations and commitments. There are many whistle-blowers out there that can be of immense support to anticorruption agencies and contribute to the effective discharge of their statutory mandates to prevent and combat corruption.
“Nigerians should be allowed to talk freely without threats of arrest or harm.
“SERAP will be taking legal action to challenge the constitutionality of the ludicrous Cyber Crime Act which is now being regularly used to undermine the effective enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression in Nigeria.
“In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued guidance to states parties including Nigeria on their free speech obligations under article 19 that emphasized the high value that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights places upon uninhibited expression in circumstances of public debate concerning public figures in the political domain and public institutions.”
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