Cyberbullying and intimidation are a serious crimes in the UK, USA and even in Nigeria under the VAPP ACT
By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
Dear Distinguished Senators of the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
I am writing to you in my capacity as the Executive Secretary of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners- ALDRAP.
As a lawyer with 19 years of experience in Legislative Law, the purpose of this letter is to share insider information.
This is a free legal advisory, so you are at Liberty to accept it or reject it.
Yesterday, 16th June 2025, in a bid to provide evidence that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was making false allegations against His Excellency, President of the Senate, AKPABIO, a lawyer pointed to the fact that the International Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA) and other women Non-governmental Organisation (NGOs) are not openly supporting Senator Natasha.
The lawyer mis-read it completely!!!
In fact, the fact that FIDA and other women NGOs are not openly supporting AKPABIO is prima facie evidence that indicts AKPABIO of cyberbullying and Intimidation which is an offence under the Violence Against Persons Act, 2015.
Let me provide an explanation in layman’s terms.
As a politician, AKPABIO has instructed his team of lawyers to apply the principle of “strike the shepherd and the sheep would scatter”.
In other words, use the prosecution of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for criminal offences as a scapegoat to drive home the lesson of the ordeals that awaits any female who raises allegations of sexual harrasment against any high-ranking VIP such as a senator.
The fact that FIDA and other women NGOs have been intimidated into silence is evidence that the intimidation tactics of AKPABIO is effective at least in the short term while he still occupies the position of President of the Senate.
However, after his tenure as President of the Senate, there is no statute of limitations that prevents the filing of criminal charges against AKPABIO under the Violence Against Persons (VAPP) Act, 2015.
These charges are to be filed by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) which is named in the VAPP ACT as the federal government agency for implementation.
The current seeming non-involvement of FIDA and other women NGOs is a classic case of self-preservation.
FIDA and other women NGOs are eyewitnesses to the brazen use and abuse of power and influence of AKPABIO to deal with Senator Natasha, so they realise that it is furtile and even suicidal to confront Akapbio at this very moment.
According to Sigmund Freud, one of the most important psychological reactions of humans which he called the pleasure principle is that: “humans have the tendency to avoid anyone or anything that causes them pain and discomfort and they tend to gravitate towards anyone or anything that offers them pleasure”.
Another reason why, FIDA and other women NGOs are not making a public intervention in favour of Senator Natasha is because they don’t want to jeopardise the behind-the-scenes investigation activities.
The law enforcement agencies of both the United Kingdom and the United States of American (USA) are meticulous keepers of records.
They work behind-the-scenes to gather information about any allegations of crimes.
After they have gathered enough information, then they can charge the suspect to a court of law.
Unbeknownst to both AKPABIO and his team of lawyers (especially the flippant ones like Dr. Monday O. Ubani, SAN, who is always writing and publishing things online), a case file has been opened by law enforcement agencies.
It is the same strategy that was used in the case of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife. The law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom kept “sealed lips” after they received the first report and allegations against Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
They allowed Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife to continue in their actions because each action by Senator Ike Ekweremadu provided concrete evidence of the allegations of the crime.
The final step or piece of evidence was when Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife boarded the airplane and landed in the United Kingdom to oversee the completion of the process of transplanting human organs from a Nigerian into their daughter.
At that point they were both arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned (caught red-handed) as we would say in layman’s parlance!!!
Those who are lawyers understand the word: “inchoate”, it means that a crime is not complete until all the two elements (acteus rea and mens rea) coincide.
Similarly, with each step that AKPABIO and his accomplices (the 108 Senators, the IGP, police officers that investigated, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the witnesses) have taken so far against Senator Natasha, they are providing pieces of evidence like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
At the right time, these indelible pieces of evidence would be used for prosecution of AKPABIO and the cohorts.
It is only a matter of time and location, either in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, the USA or any of the ally countries of the USA where cyberbullying and intimidation is regarded as a serious crime!!!
It is only a matter of time (mark my words)!!!
To conclude, let me use this opportunity to issue a travel advisory to all the 109 Senators, it will be best to avoid travelling to either the USA and UK during this period. If you must travel at all, do not use your official diplomatic passport so that they don’t easily identify you as a member of the 10th Assembly of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
17th June 2025.
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
