National
GEJ Flayed As Student Parody Account Holder Talks
By Ayodele Oluwafemi
Ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan has again come under intense criticism on the social media for after a student, Olusola Babatunde, who was arrested for creating a parody twitter account of the former president at the weekend gave his story.
On May 23rd, the 500-level chemical engineering student of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Olusola, was arrested in Ogbomoso, the state capital of Osun state.
He was subsequently detained at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja for over 90 days.
Weeks before his arrest, he had tweeted with the parody account mimicking wife of Jonathan, Patience.
Olusola was charged to court for impersonation on the petition raised by the former president.
He was granted bail having spent 82 days in detention. But following intensive social media pressure Jonathan wrote the court to withdraw the case against Olusola.
His action did not breach any policy of the social media company, Twitter, as he only converted his personal account @jath3dope to a parody version of the former president.
As Twitter allows users to create parody accounts but with such account must bear the disclaimer indicating parody.
After his release, Olushola took to his Twitter handle, on Friday, to narrate his ordeals in the police custody and how a telecommunication service provider provided the phone number of his uncle, which got to his eventual arrest.
He also appreciated those who facilitated his release, especially through the hashtag #FreeShola.
“For those saying why didn’t I use my dad’s name & photo, some also asked why I had to use a popular person like him but I guess the definition to parody says it all. There was a question on the TL “who else noticed Nigeria has been boring ever since Buhari became the president?”
“So I quoted the tweet saying “my wife was always the joke” Truth be told, impersonating the ex president or defrauding tweeps on here with his picture on my avi never crossed my mind. I only made a harmless tweet that very evening but unfortunately I got arrested May 23rd??❤️ .
“Who runs a parody account and attaches his personal Instagram link to the profile? Went beyond the rules of Parody just not to cause confusion but, there is God!” he wrote on Twitter.
His tweets stirred outrage on Twitter as many Nigerians were calling out Jonathan for what they perceived as oppressive and tyrannical in a democratic setting.
Some Nigerians argued that the former president could arrest someone over a parody account, but did not address the plethora of insecurity issues during his administration.
@inibeheEffiong tweeted: “There is no name that enjoys special privileges under the law. The name “Goodluck Jonathan” is not protected in any special way. To arrest a citizen for operating a parody account is irresponsible. Insult is a moral issue. The former president should be ashamed of himself.”
@AimThaMachine tweeted: “I love and support Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and I strongly condemn the actions taken on shola by one of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s aide. Detaining someone for 90 days over a parody account is wrong. It’s not about what shola tweeted. We have the rule of law. E fit be me or you.”
@OgbeniDipo tweeted: “Defending one politician over something you would have called another a dictator, evil, vile, unforgiving and so many unprintable names is hypocritical. You don’t need to do that. No one should be in jail for 90 days over a parody account. Stop lying and twisting the story.”
See what people say:
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