The police in Anambra State have arrested and detained a 42-year-old woman, Eucharia Ogochukwu, for alleged cyber bullying and defamation of a senior police officer’s character.
Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in Anambra State, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
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Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said Ms Ogochukwu was arrested in Awka at about 3:20 p.m. on 31 December by operatives attached to the Rapid Response Squad.
The spokesperson said the “senior police officer” is an assistant commissioner of police who once served in Anambra State.
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“Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect allegedly engaged in coordinated online activities aimed at damaging the reputation of the assistant commissioner of police.
“During interrogation, the suspect made useful statements to the police,” he said.
He added that the police had begun an investigation to identify and track down other persons connected to the alleged crime.
Prohibited in Nigeria
Nigeria’s Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015 which was amended in 2024 outlawed many forms of harmful online conduct, including cyberbullying.
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In lesser cases, cyber bullying offenders, upon conviction, face a minimum fine of not more than N7 million or imprisonment for a term of not more than three years or both such fine and imprisonment depending on the nature of the offence, Section 24 (1) (b) of the Act said.
In severe cases, offenders shall be liable on conviction to 10 years and for a minimum fine of N25 million, according to Section 24(2).
Like cyber bullying, criminal defamation is also outlawed in the Criminal Code Act.
While Section 375 (1) of the Act prescribes up to one year imprisonment for convicted offenders, subsection 2 provides at least two years imprisonment for offenders who published a defamatory matter knowing it to be false.
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