- by Met
THE Federal High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Wednesday sentenced one Mr Olubunmi Ayan to two years in prison for posting a nude photo of his lover on Facebook.
The court presided by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, in addition to the jail term, also slammed Ayan with N500,000 fine for the act.
Ayan, said to be in his early 40s, was convicted after he carried out his threat to post nude pictures of his estranged lover, Monica Arare, on the social media after their relationship broke down.
In the suit with number FHC/AD/17c/2017, between the Attorney-General of the Federation and Olubunmi Ayan, Justice Taiwo, in his judgement held that Ayan violated Section 24 (1) of the Cyber Crime Act, 2015 and was found guilty of committing the crime after evidence made available to the court was found as incontrovertible proof that he willfully and maliciously committed the crime.
Justice Taiwo said: “I find the act of the convict highly disgraceful, very despicable and barbaric to say the least. He has behaved true to the saying that hell knows no fury than a lover ‘s scorn. I must say that the defendant who has a wife and children at home could find it easy to demean and embarrass a woman who was having an amorous affair with him.
“It is an act of meanness to attempt to if he has not already tarnished the image and reputation of Asare Monica. The act of the convict is very strange in our society not to talk of in Aisegba-Ekiti and Ekiti State in general, where there are very proud and educated men and women and the society is so closely linked together and everyone knows one another.
“The world has become a global village with the emergence of social media. Who knows who would have seen the nude pictures?
“Justice, in this case, demands that people like the convict should be taught a lesson that would serve as a deterrent to others who may like to behave in such a manner.
” Under no circumstance, must Asare Monica or any of her family and relatives should be harassed by anyone. I, therefore, charge the police to arrest anyone found to harass Monica or any of her relatives or families and friends,” he said.
Justice Taiwo declared the jail term took immediate effect and explained that he had been lenient in sentencing the culprit as the punishment for his crime attracted a fine of N7 million and three-year jail term according to the Cyber Crime Act.
He said the court tempered justice with mercy because of the pleas of culprit’s counsel that he had a family and he is a first offender.
The judge also lamented that those who made the law issuing a punishment of N7 million and three-year jail term to the persons guilty of such crimes did not make provisions for compensation for the victim.
He, therefore, advised that such provision should be made by lawmakers in a future exercise in amending the laws.
Counsel for the AGF, identified simply as Mrs Oyewole, had told the court that Ayan had threatened to post nude pictures Monica on the social media sometimes in 2017 when the lady told him she was no longer interested in their amorous relationship.
According to the council, Monica, a single lady, had pleaded with Ayan, who is married with children, not to carry out his threat and he had requested for a sum of N200,000 as an inducement for him to rescind his decision.
Ayan had, however, posted the nude pictures of Monica as he threatened when the lady could not get him the money he had demanded.
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