Unbelievable: What you Share, Post and Write Can send you to Jail - Buhari's Aide, Lauretta Warns

President Muhammadu Buhari’s social media aide, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, Saturday warned Nigerians to desist from posting and sharing images, articles and stories that could heat up the polity, using their computer sets.

Disclosing this via her official facebook handle, Onochie advised Nigerians to be careful of what they share, noting that the use of fake accounts to forward or receive messages will not shield the offender from going to jail.

Her words:

CYBERCRIMES (PROHIBITION, PREVENTION, ETC.) ACT, 2015

PROTECT YOURSELF.

Don’t go to jail.

USING FAKE ACCOUNTS OR “FORWARDED AS RECEIVED”, WON’T SHIELD YOU.

Read carefully and be careful of what you share!

*Here are some of the provisions to keep in mind.*

Section (24)

(1) Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network that –

(a) is grossly offensive, pornographic or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be so sent; or

(b) he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another or causes such a message to be sent: commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7,000,000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Any person who knowingly or intentionally transmits or causes the transmission of any communication through a computer system or network –

(a) to bully, threaten or harass another person, where such communication places another person in fear of death, violence or bodily harm or to another person containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to harm the person of another, any demand or request for a ransom for the release of any kidnapped person, to extort from any person, firm, association or corporation, any money or other thing of value; or

(c) containing any threat to harm the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or any other person of a crime, to extort from any person, firm, association, or corporation, any money or other thing of value: commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction –

(i) in the case of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection to imprisonment for a term

of 10 years and/or a minimum fine of N25,000,000.00; and

(ii) in the case of paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, to imprisonment for a term of 5 years and/or a minimum fine of N15,000,000.00.

(1) Any person who with intent –

(a) distributes or otherwise makes available, any racist or xenophobic material to the public through a computer system or network;

(b) threatens through a computer system or network –

(i) persons for the reason that they belong to a group distinguished by race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, as well as, religion, if used as a pretext for any of these factors; or

(ii) a group of persons which is distinguished by any of these characteristics;

(c) insults publicly through a computer system or network –

(i) persons for the reason that they belong to a group distinguished by race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion, if used as a pretext for any of these factors; or

(ii) a group of persons which is distinguished by any of these characteristics; or

(d) distributes or otherwise makes available, through a computer system or network,

to the public, material which denies or approves or justifies acts constituting genocide or crimes against humanity -commits an offence and shall be on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 5 years or to a fine of not more thanN10,000,000.00 or both such fine and imprisonment

2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the term –

“Genocide” means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such: killing members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

“Racist or Xenophobic material” means any written or printed material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual group of individuals, based on race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors.

 

Vanguard