By Kolawole Ojebisi
Amnesty International has condemned the Borno State government’s alleged arrest and detention of a teenager, Muhammed Haruna, over a social media post on the “poor condition of public schools” in the state.
The human rights organisation accused the Borno state government of disregard for the rule of law over the development.
Haruna, a resident of the state, was said to have been arrested by the Borno police command on April 2.
However, in a statement posted on its social media handles, Amnesty International said the police charged Haruna for “defaming and degrading the personality of the governor”.
The organisation said arresting people for their comments on social media amounts to abuse of power and infringement on the freedom of expression.
“Amnesty International condemns Borno state government and the police for the unlawful arrest and detention of Haruna Mohammed (widely known as Abale Borno),” the statement reads.
“The 19-year-old has been detained for a viral social media post expressing concern over the ramshackle state of public schools in Borno state.
“In a clear and utter disregard for the rule of law, Borno state government in connivance with the police are charging the teenager for ‘defaming and degrading the personality of the governor’.
“Responding to a critic with arbitrary detention and planning to charge him for ‘ridiculing and bringing down the personality of governor of Borno state Prof. Umara Babagana Zulum’ is a brazen abuse of power and contempt for people’s right to hold and express critical opinions.
“Borno state government must end its ruthless and disturbing crackdown on dissent. Targeting people for critical social media posts is draconian and unacceptable in a free society.
“The right to freedom of expression applies to ideas of all kinds and protects the ability of people to express critical opinions even if their message might be considered negative, shocking or disturbing.
“Any restriction on human right to freedom of expression is illegal. It is perfectly within the rights of any individual to seek better social services and hold those in position of authority to account.”
The organisation demanded an immediate and unconditional release of Haruna, and asked the Borno government to “end their misuse of the criminal justice system and manipulation of the police to suppress dissent and silence critics”.
