Police charge #EndSARS activist Olamide Thomas for insulting Seyi Tinubu on social media; remand her in jail

The police are holding the female activist for her outburst against the president’s family after she was tear-gassed at a rally against police brutality in October.

Ebube Ibeh • December 20, 2024

Olamide Thomas and Seyi Tinubu composite

The police in Abuja have arraigned Olamide Abiodun Thomas on four criminal counts after a video of her insulting the president’s son and police chiefs went viral on social media.

Ms Thomas’ video was taken while she was protesting the police’s use of tear gas against her and other protesters who took to the streets to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS movement against police brutality in Nigeria.

The four-page complaint unveiled as Ms Thomas was arranged on Friday morning said the activist “intentionally” recorded the video in Yoruba, wherein she said she hoped calamity would befall Seyi Tinubu as she was enduring the pains inflicted on her by the police tear gas.

She also rained curses on Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun and police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi in the same video, the police said in the charge sheet prepared on December 18, 2024.

Ms Thomas’ action, which the police said violated Section 24 (2) (a) of the Cybercrimes Act, 2024, was allegedly meant to “bully, threaten, and harass the person of Seyi Tinubu,” the complaint said.

The arraignment came weeks after Ms Thomas was arrested and taken into custody. She was remanded in prison on Friday morning by the presiding judge, Emeka Nwite. She would likely be in prison through the holidays, and judges are expected to go on Yuletide break until January 2025.

Her ordeal has been overshadowed by the arrest of Dele Farotimi, a Lagos-based lawyer and rights activist whose book on judicial corruption in Nigeria has drawn several defamation charges. Mr Farotimi was arrested earlier this month and has been in detention ever since. On Friday morning, he was granted bail on terms other activists criticised as draconian.

Attacks on Nigerian citizens arising from their social media comments have intensified under President Bola Tinubu, who rose to power promising to respect Nigerians’ fundamental freedoms to depart from his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari, who was infamous for cracking down on human rights throughout his eight years in power between 2015 and 2023.

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