The senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom has allegedly called one of his constituents an imbecile for raising an alarm that cement meant for road constructions are being sold.
His reaction followed a video trending on Facebook on Tuesday accusing the senator of selling cement meant for road construction.
In the video, which was uploaded by a Facebook user Id Abel, a voice could be heard saying “community don dey protest oh, Jarigbe don dey sell cement wey him buy to do road, road wey never finish, him don dey sell cement.
“See am, see am. See people gather. Him don dey sell the cement. Him don the sell am. Jarigbe don dey sell the cement wey him buy say him want do road and road him never fit complete the road him don dey sell cement back.”
Responding, the senator responded on his Facebook page calling him an “imbecile” vowing to house him as an example.
He wrote, “Imagine what a constituent can be spewing. I’m not a Governor, so I will not ignore. The Governor is too busy but I’m not. I will pay attention to this imbecility.
“The Law has to be applied to all those involved. You guys should allow me exercise my rights for once. This may be a deterrent to other imbeciles.”
The response drew angry reactions from some constituents cautioning against using the police to apply the cybercrime act to enforce his right.
Publisher of CrossRiverWatch, Agba Jalingo who has been at a receiving end of the act warned the senator not to “join the infamous list of those who use security agencies to harass citizens.”
He stated making reference to the 2020 appeal of Scottow vs Crown Prosecution Service in the UK stressing that “free speech encompasses the right to offend and even abuse another person.”
He warned that “letting the police investigate or charge people based on subjective feelings or being insulted or offended is a serious interference with democratic free expression.”
He urged him to call his “lawyer, not the police” to “sue whoever is involved in a civil case.”
