NEWISSUES, Abuja

The Senate has reached an advanced stage to
pass a bill that seeks seven years jail term for
social media critics found guilty of inciting the
public against the government.

The proposed legislation which has scaled
second reading in the upper legislative
chamber is also proposing a stiffer punishment
for internet fraudsters and scammers in
Nigeria as those convicted will face a seven
years imprisonment.

The joint Senate Committees on Judiciary,
Human Rights and legal matters, Drugs,
Narcotics and Financial Crimes led by Senator
Umaru Dahiru (PDP, Sokoto), yesterday
organised a one day public hearing on the bill
for an act to provide for the prohibition and
punishment for electronic fraud and crime in
all electronic transactions in Nigeria.

Section 13 subsection 3 of the bill proposes
that: “Anyone who intentionally propagates
false information that could threaten the
security of the country or that is capable of
inciting the general public against the
government through electronic message shall
be guilty of an offense and upon conviction
shall be sentenced to seven years
imprisonment or N5 million (fine).”

Declaring open the public hearing Senate
President David Mark who was represented by
the deputy minority whip, Senator Abu
Ibrahim (APC, Katsina), said electronic
fraudsters pose great danger to the country
which must be tackled to attract foreign
investment.

The committee chairman Senator Umaru
Dahiru (PDP, Sokoto) said electronic fraud was
posing serious threat to world economies and
Nigeria being a developing economy should
enact appropriate laws to deal with the
challenges.

http://www.newissuesmagazine.com/senate-seeks-7yrs-jail-term-social-media-critics-daily-trust/

what about those who eat up to N2b meal per year?

What do you expect from looters and pedo-philes?

Omen100: what about those who eat up to N2b meal per year?

This category of people should be publicly hanged.

On the government's scale of preference, is this supposed to be one of the most important issues to tackle? What happened to the freedom of information? What happened to suing for defamation of character, propagating false information et al if the criticism really hit home? This is the sort of leadership one gets when the government is not people or masses-oriented.