A group of Nigerians on Wednesday protested at the National Assembly over the controversial Hate Speech Bill.
The protesters demanded the. withdrawal of the bills on hate speech and internet manipulations.
NAN reports that Deji Adeyanju, a civil activist, who led the protesters to the National Assembly gate, described the bills as “obnoxious”.
The protesters carried placards bearing various inscriptions aimed at rejecting the bills.
According to Adeyanju, the bills are completely out of place having no place in a democracy regime.
”These bills have no place in our laws and nation because the Cybercrime Act of 2015 has already aptly captured the provisions of these bills in its entirety.
”We want to draw the attention of the National Assembly to the provision of Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act of 2015.
“That section of the act has expressly captured all the provisions that the social media and hate speech bill ought to cover,” he said.
Receiving the protesters, Sen. Uba Sani (APC-Kaduna Central), said that the contribution of all segments of the society would be taken into consideration during public hearings on the bills.
Recall that the controversial bill on hate speech had on Nov. 12, passed first reading in the upper chamber.
The bill sponsored by the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, while the Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Protection from Internet Falsehoods and Manipulations had passed second reading in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger East)
