A peaceful protest against hate speech and social media bills on Wednesday was greeted with a clash between the Police personnel attached to the National Assembly and journalists who covered the protest march.
Scores of Nigerians had on November 27th marched to the National Assembly and several State Houses of Assembly nationwide to register their opposition to the Bills following a call by human rights activist Deji Adeyanju.
Pandemonium broke out as security agencies guarding the national assembly gate attempted to prevent journalists from reporting the protest just as they confiscated equipment belonging to RootsTv Nigeria crew.
This led to a verbal altercation which reportedly lasted several minutes as the Roots Tv Nigeria crew with support from the protesters attempted to recover the camera which was in the possession of one the police officers.
Finally bowing to pressure, the police returned the Roots tv equipment as the security operatives continued to monitor the protest.
The protest
The protest to the National Assembly gate saw a heavy turnout of demonstrators carrying placards with inscriptions that read;
- “Say No To #SocialMediaBill #HateSpeechBill”;
- “Hypocrites Get Offended By The Truth”;
- “Only A repressive Regime Muscle The Media”
- “This is Slavery Not To Speak One’s Mind”
In his address, the leader of the protest, Deji Adeyanju called on Nigerians to protest at state houses of Assemblies in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He said:
“Whether we like it or not, we are faced with two obnoxious bills; the anti-social media bill and the hate speech bill. These bills are completely out of place, they have no place in a democracy and whether anybody likes it or not this is taking tyranny to the next level and Nigerians must not condone it”
Adeyanju argued that the “cybercrime act 2015” has already aptly captured the provisions of both the social media bill and the hate speech bill.
Other protesters asked why there were no bills by the legislature for creation of jobs, fixing Nigerian roads and tackling other problems facing the country.
The Protest lasted about two hours under the tight supervision of security operatives at the National Assembly who on some occasions got into open confrontations with the demonstrators.
The controversial bills
The Hate Speech Bill sponsored by Senator Abdulahi Sabi had initially proposed death penalty for offenders however following a massive backlash, the lawmakers announced that the bill would undergo amendments.
According to the bill“
Any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in the death of another person shall die by hanging
The anti-hate speech bill was first presented by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi in March 2018 but faced heavy criticism and was abandoned in June 2019 after it failed to make it to the final reading.
In November 2019, Abdullahi, now deputy chief whip in the senate, reintroduced the bill as the ‘National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches Bill, 2019 (SB. 154)’. It passed its first reading on November 12, 2019 and is awaiting a second reading.
The Social Media Bill has also come under heavy criticism as critics have accused the legislature of attempting to gag Nigerians through the bill.
Supported by Senators Ibrahim Gobir, Abba Moro and Elisha Abbo the bill proposes N300,000 fine and/or a three-year jail term for anyone who posts anything online that can threaten peace and safety of the nation.
