Deji Adeyanju, a civil
activist who led the protesters to the National Assembly gate described the
bills as “obnoxious”.
A group of protesters on
Wednesday went to the National Assembly to demand the withdrawal of the bills
on hate speech and social media.
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 democratic 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.
News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) reports 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 Falsehood and Manipulation
had passed second reading in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger
East).
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