The student, identified as Aminu Muhammad, was reportedly arrested for posting a tweet apparently mocking the First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari.
The tweet which was written in Hausa and accompanied by a photo of the first lady, read in English, “Mama has eaten poor people’s money and is now full.”
Shortly after the tweet, Muhammad was arrested allegedly by operatives of the Department of State Service, leading to a backlash from Nigerians against the service and the first lady on social media.
One of those who criticised the DSS over Muhammad’s reported arrest was a lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
He tweeted, “You are defending Aisha Buhari because she’s someone’s mother. This argument is preposterous. Thousands have lost their mothers to the incompetence and cruelty of the Buhari regime. Thousands have been orphaned by the corruption in management of funds meant to combat terrorism.”
On her part, activist Aisha Yesufu said, “Who is Aisha Buhari that an aggrieved citizen cannot talk about? Those of you talking about her so-called powers need to ask yourselves whether you are citizens or slaves.Duniya budurwar wawa!”
Also condemning the reported arrest, a social media influencer, Daniel Regha, said it was an abuse of power.
He tweeted, “Patience Jonathan was unfairly mocked everyday when she was the First Lady, no one got detained, but the SSS went ahead to arrest a Twitterer (Adamu Muhammed) for criticising Aisha Buhari. Is that the job of the SSS? Why not charge the guy to court? This is an abuse of power.”
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the DSS, Peter Afunnaya, proved abortive as the calls and message sent to his phone were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
While the DSS was still getting criticised over Muhammad’s arrest, more reports(Not by PUNCH Metro) stated that the student was arrested by the police.
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for the command, DSP Lawan Shiisu, said he was not aware of the arrest.
“We didn’t make the arrest. An arrest cannot be made in my area without me being informed,” he told our correspondent.
