Social Media User Arrested, Gets 54 days detention for creating parody Twitter account of Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan

Social Media User Arrested, Gets 54 days detention for creating parody Twitter account of Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan

A social media user, Babatunde Olusola, with the Twitter handle, @jayythepope has reportedly been arrested and detained for 54 days following the creation of a parody Twitter account of former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan.

He reportedly made some tweets using the parody account before his arrest.

According to a report by Sahara Reporters, his arrest was masterminded by Jonathan, who personally placed a phone call to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, alerting him of the parody account and requesting Babatunde's arrest.

The ex-Nigerian President also instructed his Chief Security Officer to make a formal written complaint to the Inspector-General of Police.

Babatunde who is an orphan and final year student of  Chemical Engineering of Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State was reportedly arrested through his uncle by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

His phone's privacy was invaded which reportedly granted the police operatives access to his contacts and call history.

This was used to trace Babatunde's uncle a pastor in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who was immediately placed under house arrest by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad operatives and was ordered to invite Babatunde to his residence for onward arrest, which was done.

Afterward, Babatunde was transferred from Ogbomoso to Ibadan and later to Abuja where he remained in detention of Nigeria Police Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) division in Area 10, Abuja.

Despite his arrest, lots of supporters have explained that Babatunde never violated the rules of Twitter as parody accounts were allowed.

Some explained that Babatunde made the express clarification in the biography of the parody Twitter account that the account does not belong to the former President.

uers were however of the opinion that he was wrong to have been using the former President's name on his Twitter handle.

His arrest sparked the attention of human rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, who offered legal aid and twice visited the Abuja headquarters of the Nigeria Police FCIID where Babatunde remains in detention.

Babatunde had been granted bail by an Abuja Federal High Court judge a source told SaharaReporters.

He was asked to present a level 15 federal civil servant as surety with N500,000 bail sum, which is considered stringent.

Arowolo Ayodeji, the lawyer, who got Babatunde's bail, said the young man is being charged for impersonation under Section 22(3)(c) of the Cybercrimes Act and that his bail bond had been completed but the unavailability of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to append a signature to the bail bond had stalled the process.

Speaking with SaharaReporters on the development, Akinyode, who is also the National President of the Revolutionary Lawyers' Forum, said, "The charge against Babatunde is watery and baseless. The allegation against him is dead on arrival.

"Actually, by virtue of Section 22 (3)(c) of the Cybercrimes Act, former President Goodluck Jonathan must prove that Babatunde's parody account has caused disadvantage to himself or other persons. That clearly is not the case here," he added.

Akinyode also added that Babatunde's arrest is just an unbridled display of power.