Activist Omoyele Sowore has criticised singer Adekunle Gold over issues relating to free speech and online expression.
Mr Sowore made the remarks on X on Sunday while reacting to a 2012 post by the singer about former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In the old post, Adekunle Gold wrote, “Dear God, if you give us Dagrin back, we will give you Jonathan in return. Lol.”
Referring to the post, Sowore said Adekunle Gold benefited from freedom of expression at the time and questioned why ordinary Nigerians should now face legal action over online comments.
“This was @AdekunleGold in 2012 openly criticizing then President @GoodluckJonathan. Back then, it was rightly called free speech, and if he had been arrested for those tweets, we would have been on the streets demanding his immediate release,” he wrote.
“How then does someone who benefited from freedom of expression turn around years later to use the police, courts, and the brutal cybercrime framework against ordinary Nigerians over online banter and social media exchanges?”
Sowore added that freedom of expression should apply to celebrities, politicians, activists and regular social media users alike.
“You cannot enjoy free speech when you are powerless and criminalize it the moment you become influential,” he said.
The activist also called on the Nigeria Police Force and the judiciary to stop treating internet speech as a criminal matter.
“The Nigeria Police Force @PoliceNG must stop acting as a private army for the rich and famous, while the judiciary must stop handing down outrageous punishments over internet speech that should never be criminal matters in the first place,” he added.
Sowore’s comments followed the sentencing of Adeboye Adeyeye to two years imprisonment over a social media post about Adekunle Gold’s daughter.
