Eminent lawyer and activist, Ebun-olu Adegboruwa, Esq., has called for the immediate release of Mr Segun Onibiyo, a Kaduna-based online personality and activist arrested by men of the Kaduna State Police Command, allegedly over his Facebook posts considered too critical of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“It was alleged that the Governor of Kaduna State, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, may have been instrumental to his arrest and subsequent detention, even when this has not been proved at all.

Many accounts abound as to the whereabouts of Mr Segun Onibiyo, as to whether he is in police or prison custody, without a court order,” Adegboruwa said in a statement issued on Saturday in Lagos.

Making a strong case for Onibiyo’s release, he said: “Whereas I do not subscribe to statements and posts that tend to disparage the leadership in any way, our Constitution in its section 39 has guaranteed to every citizen the inalienable freedom of expression and the press. Democracy thrives on free speech, where the right to receive and disseminate information should not be negotiable in any way at all.

“However, where the exercise of the freedom of speech may have resulted into the infringement of any known law or a violation of the right of other citizens, the appropriate thing is to follow the due process of law, in dealing with such cases.

“Under and by virtue of section 35 of the 1999 Constitution, a citizen of Nigeria should not be in custody beyond 24 hours, without being charged to court for any offense that may be alleged against him. Mr Onibiyo was said to have been arrested on November 23, 2018, in Kaduna and his fate and present location are said to be unknown.

“I therefore appeal to the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State and Governor Nasir El-Rufai, to direct the immediate release of Mr Onibiyo or ensure that he is arraigned before a competent court of law, for whatever offense that may have been alleged against him.

“As we approach the 2019 general elections, it is necessary for our leaders to eschew some level of tolerance and for citizens to exercise restraint in the publication of tendentious and reckless statements, that may heat up the polity and be exploited for other purposes.”

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