A Northern socio-cultural group, Northern Ethnic Youths Group Assembly, NEYGA, has chided Amnesty International, AI, for supporting fake news to destabilize Nigeria.
On Friday, an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court had remanded 29-year-old Ghali Isma’il in prison for posting fake TikTok videos that President Bola Tinubu died due to food poisoning.
He was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and subsequently arraigned before the Magistrate Court.
DSS informed the court that the TikToker’s action was contrary to Nigerian law.
Reacting, AI said Isma’il’s arrest was a “clear demonstration of abuse of power.”
AI said the arrest was an attempt to gag Nigerian youths and restrict them from using social media.
It said Isma’il’s arrest was carried out without thoroughly investigating the originality of the videos.
However, the spokesman of NEYGA, Ibrahim Dan-Musa, accused AI of hiding under the cover of freedom of speech to destabilize Nigeria.
In a statement he signed, Dan-Musa said: “We commend the DSS for approaching the courts to determine Isma’il’s guilt or innocence.
“Consequently, we urge our security agencies, particularly the DSS, to investigate the activities of AI in Nigeria as there is sufficient suspicion that they do not seek the good of Nigeria.
“When Nnamdi Kanu alleged that the late President Muhammadu Buhari had died and was replaced by a body double from Sudan, we condemned him.
“See where Kanu’s freedom of speech has landed us. This is why we stand resolute in our condemnation of Ghali Isma’il’s recent publications and the support he enjoys from Amnesty International.”
