Buhari’s fake marriage video: Lawyer condemns arrest of alleged mastermind

A human rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, has condemned the arrest of a 32-year-old man, Kabiru Mohammed, suspected to be the mastermind of a video alleged to be that of a wedding between the President, Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq.

The lawyer described Mohammed’s arrest as a ‘monumental abuse of public office and an indirect affront on citizens’ liberty to engage government without restraint.

The Department of State Services’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Peter Afunaya, had on Friday confirmed the arrest of the suspect who was paraded at the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

The fake video, which went viral on social media between August and September 2019, allegedly showed guests dancing at a wedding ceremony between the President and the two female ministers..

While parading the suspect, Afunaya had explained that the service received a petition from Ahmed on October 11, requesting an investigation to unravel the brains behind the embarrassing video and their possible motives.

He stated that after much investigations within thee period the video was reported, officials of the agency apprehended Mohammed, who had allegedly confessed to initiating, creating and sharing the fake video.

Though, Akinyode, in a statement, said, “Under the Nigerian jurisprudence, libel or defamation could indeed be criminal. However, the position of the law is that in order to prove criminal libel or criminal defamation, the misdeed of the suspect must be such that is capable of creating widespread public unrest or instigating a threat to national security.