Police arrest PDP spokesperson and a pattern emerges
Police arrest of PDP spokesperson follows a pattern, raising questions about free speech and political intimidation in Akwa Ibom.
The Akwa Ibom police have arrested Ewa Okpo, the state Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party. The charge: criminal defamation, cyberstalking and related offences arising from his social media posts.
The arrest follows a petition filed on 17 June by former senator Effiong Bob, who accused Okpo of making false and defamatory statements. Bob, a lawyer called to the Bar in 1984, rejected suggestions that reporting the matter amounted to intimidation. “He said that I am a fraudster. He said I have never assisted anyone,” Bob told Premium Times. He added: “I am not stupid.”
The police statement was stark. “Social media is not a sanctuary for criminality,” said Timfon John, the police spokesperson. The force warned that individuals who publish false information, engage in cyberstalking or defamation risk prosecution, and those who knowingly amplify such content could also face criminal liability.
This arrest comes barely four months after the police declared the Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress in Akwa Ibom, Manfred Ekpe, wanted over allegations of cyberstalking and threat to life against Governor Umo Eno.
The pattern is clear: opposition party spokespersons in Akwa Ibom are being arrested or declared wanted. The charge is always defamation or cyberstalking. The complainant is always a political figure. The police are always eager to assist.
The Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. The police acknowledge this and then add that such rights do not extend to criminal conduct. The distinction between political criticism and criminal defamation is where the fight happens. In Akwa Ibom, the police are deciding where that line is drawn.
The winners: Governor Umo Eno’s administration, which has removed another opposition voice. The losers: the PDP, which loses its state spokesperson, and free speech, which loses another defender. Every arrest of an opposition figure makes the next one easier.
Bottom Line: In Akwa Ibom, criticising the government is not a crime, but the police seem to disagree.