THREATS TO LIFE OF THE SENATOR SPONSORING HATE SPEECH BILL
I have been getting threats -Senator who sponsored hate speech bill
November 18, 2019
Senator Aliyu Abdullahi who reintroduced the bill that seeks to penalize hate speech claims he has been receiving threatening messages after the first reading of the bill. The senator made the comments during a press briefing in Abuja.
The senator however, said he was not a coward and threats would not make him back down. The National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech Bill was reintroduced in the Senate on November 12.It prescribes the death penalty for anyone found guilty of spreading falsehood that leads to the death of another person. Although Mr Abdullahi did not state the kind of threats he has been receiving, he vowed not to “shy away from his responsibility.”
“Like somebody wrote to me, over the past ten days or so since the bill was read for the first time, I have received all kinds of messages some even including threats. But I am not bothered about that. In all of these, if I receive one commendation, it gladdens my heart and I did receive many commendations and one stood out and said there is so much hate in this country. We must check it.
“If you meet those who have lost their loved ones arising from religious or ethnicity, intolerance, and the like, I don’t think they will be smiling with you when you tell them hate speech is nonsense or does not exist. They have felt, seen and are living as victims of hate speech,” he said.
November 18, 2019
Senator Aliyu Abdullahi who reintroduced the bill that seeks to penalize hate speech claims he has been receiving threatening messages after the first reading of the bill. The senator made the comments during a press briefing in Abuja.
The senator however, said he was not a coward and threats would not make him back down. The National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech Bill was reintroduced in the Senate on November 12.It prescribes the death penalty for anyone found guilty of spreading falsehood that leads to the death of another person. Although Mr Abdullahi did not state the kind of threats he has been receiving, he vowed not to “shy away from his responsibility.”
“Like somebody wrote to me, over the past ten days or so since the bill was read for the first time, I have received all kinds of messages some even including threats. But I am not bothered about that. In all of these, if I receive one commendation, it gladdens my heart and I did receive many commendations and one stood out and said there is so much hate in this country. We must check it.
“If you meet those who have lost their loved ones arising from religious or ethnicity, intolerance, and the like, I don’t think they will be smiling with you when you tell them hate speech is nonsense or does not exist. They have felt, seen and are living as victims of hate speech,” he said.
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