A Federal University of Dutse student has been detained by the State Security Service because of a social media remark that was considered derogatory of Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari.
According to reports, Aminu Adamu Muhammed said on Twitter in June that Mrs. Buhari had suddenly gained a lot of weight after participating in the theft of the country’s few resources as the people suffered under her husband’s ruthless rule.
In the tweet from June 8, 2022, Mr. Muhammad reprimanded Ms. Buhari in Hausa: “Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi”, which means “the mother has gotten fatter by eating masses’ money.”
According to Mr. Muhammad’s pals, he wrote the article as a result of his frustration with the country’s universities’ protracted strike. Beginning in early 2022, the strike lasted for nine months before coming to a conclusion last month.
Mrs. Buhari’s size has recently increased from a nearly athletic frame when her husband was running for government in 2015, which has led to suspicion that she may be unwell or pregnant. She refuted each assertion.
According to a family source, Mr. Muhammed, 23, was apprehended by police on the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa campus on November 8. The student was reportedly severely beaten by the police after being taken into custody at around noon.
He was abruptly sent to Abuja and given a limited window of time to speak with his father Adamu Shalele Azare about where he was, which the family mistook for a police station.
Later, it was revealed to Peoples Gazette that Mr. Muhammad’s detention was orchestrated by the State Security Service. The secret police has a history of using brutality and repression to enforce regime preservation throughout the 1990s.
It was unclear right away if the family had been able to hire a lawyer to handle the situation. A request for comments from The Gazette on Saturday afternoon went unanswered by a SSS spokesman right away. The environmental technology department at the school, where Mr. Muhammad studies, declined to comment.
The episode represented the most recent instance of the attacks on fundamental liberties that have defined Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Since 2015, thousands of Nigerians have been detained, imprisoned, or forced to leave their country because of speeches deemed critical of the administration or its sympathizers.
However, since 2015, the administration has continued to minimize its contribution to the decline in human rights, claiming that most of the attacks were carried out by rogue officers who were not necessarily authorized by the president or his cabinet members and other appointees.
The act has received harsh criticism on Twitter from users who have compared it to the APC’s and its supporters’ treatment of former president Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience, and have called it tyrannical.
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!https://t.co/StlVZBaGHk— Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) November 27, 2022
This was tweeted about a sitting first lady in 2013. The sky did not fall down.
So please entirely miss me with anything you have to say. Aisha Buhari's bullying has not even started. https://t.co/glLRIN67PV
— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) November 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/DavidHundeyin/status/1596804575063076865?t=Hty0TZqsjP2LNnAe9z_vfA&s=19
Our security & intelligence forces could trace a tweep as far as Federal university Dutse for insulting Aisha Buhari.
They could track Nnamdi Kanu & kidnap him in far away Kenya. But they can't track bandits in their backyards.
Buhari's administration favours northern criminals— Amber Ose Ibeh™ (@masurge7) November 26, 2022
Just saw a Facebook post about @aminullahie was taken to somewhere after tweeting some nonsense about the first lady.
Allah ya bayyana ka pic.twitter.com/p9YugqCk5Q— Mendex. (@justmendex) November 25, 2022
It is petty, ridiculous and unconstitutional for the SSS to arrest a citizen for “mocking” the wife of the President on social media. Nigeria is not Iran, North Korea or China. We’ll not tolerate such reckless abuse of power. Anyone related to the young man should reach out.
— Inibehe Effiong (@InibeheEffiong) November 26, 2022