Kemi Olunloyo, a controversial social media personality and blogger, has been charged with “cyber crime” over a recent publication on her blog in which she accused David Ibiyeomie, a mega-pastor based in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, of adultery.
In an Instagram post, the 52-year-old Ms. Olunloyo disclosed that the police arrested her in Port Harcourt and detained her after the pastor complained that she defamed his character in a recent post.
Ms. Olunloyo, a daughter of former Governor Victor Omololu Olunloyo of Oyo State, had posted a letter written by a member of Mr. Ibiyeomie’s church in which the pastor was accused of a series of misconduct, including infidelities.
A reporter in Daily Post, who published Oluloyo’s account was also charged along with her. Her bail hearing comes up on March 23, 2017.
In an online post on Thursday, the bloggers stated that police officers arrived at her home in Ibadan to arrest her. She stated that the officers took her to the Oyo State Criminal Investigative Department (CID) before they drove her to Port Harcourt.
The Muhammadu Buhari government has demonstrated that it is dictatorial and given to a clamp down on press and individual freedoms in the country.
Since Buhari became president, there has been a steady increase in the number of arrests, assaults by officials of state agencies, and crackdown on journalists, activists, and the media.
Two weeks ago, Audu Maikori, a music industry mogul, was arrested and charged on the orders of the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El Rufai over social media comments he made advocating against the killing of his people of Southern Kaduna.
Nasir El Rufia ordered that he be charged for “inciting voilence” and has been shopping around for any random incident of violence against Fulani people during the period of Maikori’s social media post in order to link the two for increased charged of “culpable manslaughter”.
The people of Southern Kaduna, a predominantly Christian community are being attacked by Islamist terrorists called the Fulani herdmen militia. Christian leaders say that up to a 1,000 Christians have been killed in the killings which are systematic and carried out by terrorists who appear to have the backing of the Nigerian authorities.
International media watch organizations, including the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, have voiced concern over an apparent systematic assault on free press and freedom of expression in Nigeria.
