A non-governmental organization, Human
Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria,
(HURIWA) has reacted to the controversy
trailing an alleged marijuana picture posted
online by popular actress, Tonto Dike.
The actress had posted the picture on the
social media, an act which drew the
attention of the National Drugs Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Its spokesman Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, in his
reaction had said that “The law is clear and
NDLEA has been very clear on the issue. No
one is permitted to sell, use, cultivate or
encourage the use of Indian hemp in
Nigeria.
The substance is one of the
banned narcotics in the country.”
In a statement jointly issued by the
National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel
Onwubiko and National media Director,
Miss. Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the anti-
drug agency was “chasing shadows by
threatening to arrest a Nigerian citizen
whose alleged ‘marijuana photograph’ does
not constitute hard core judicial evidence
but rather a social media contraption that
may never stand credibility test in the
competent court of law.”
HURIWA urged NDLEA not to waste
taxpayers’ fund in pursuing a matter that is
substantially irrelevant and lacks proof.
The Rights group tasked the agency to
instead extend its dragnet and arrest high
profile drug barons and peddlers rather
than engage in ‘meaningless voyage of
discovery’ and ‘attention seeking’ in the
media which the Rights group described as
‘witch- hunting’ and an elaborate attempt
to undermine the fundamental freedoms of
the actress- Miss Tonto Dike who is now
being framed up with a trumped up charge
of posting ‘marijuana photograph’ on the
social media.
It advised the NDLEA to
concentrate on how to repair its
public image damaged by the
costly mistake it made during the arrest,
detention and investigation of the popular
Yoruba comedian Baba Suwe (the popular
expensive faecis/excreta gamble by the
NDLEA).”
“We are shocked that the NDLEA has
deviated from their time tested mandate of
going after big drug barons who have
brought international opprobrium to the
image of Nigeria and are now engaged in
‘media circus show’ of attempting to arrest
an innocent Nigerian lady Miss Tonto Dike
over an allegation that falls flat on its face
as an irredeemably unsubstantiated
contraption that will inevitably fail any
good test of credibility in the competent
court of law.
“Law enforcement is not done by emotion
or sentiment but on hard core evidence,
empirically tested to be credible. Now that
Miss. Tonto Dike has denied ever appearing
in that allegedly forged photograph on the
social media, NDLEA should leave this lady
alone and go after big barons”.
HURIWA criticized the agency, saying that
“the allegation against Dike at best amount
to tissue of speculative contraption which
should not attract the attention of any
serious-minded law enforcement agency
except if it has run out of idea on how to
pursue and arrest high profile drug barons
who have flooded major streets of state
capitals with hard drugs leading to serial
addictions by the Nigerian youth.”
“NDLEA is being clever by half by stating
that it will arrest and jail Miss. Tonto Dike
based on mere untenable evidence of
marijuana photograph on the social media.
Why did the NDLEA fail to seek public
clarification from the Borno state governor
who was reported in a section of the media
to have alleged that drug addicts are in his
cabinet? Why is NDLEA after this lady? Is it
because she is a woman whereas it has not
bothered to look the way of the Borno state
governor that alleged the presence of drug
addicts in the state cabinet nor has the
agency gone after the international
musicians who appear regularly in the
Nigerian media puffing what looks like
marijuana?” it asked.
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