Hate Speech Bill: There’s no need to multiply our laws, I smell a rat — Catholic Bishop
by David O Royal
By Chancel Sunday
The Bishop of Bomadi Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Rev Hycianth Egbebo, MSP, has said that Nigerians do not need additional laws on hate speech, saying existing laws were definite about it. Egbebo stated this on Monday during an interview with newsmen at Bomadi, headquarters of the Diocese in Delta state, stressing existing laws were already taking care of hate speech in a big way and there was no need to multiply them. He said, “my opinion is that we basically have some laws that are taking care of hate speech in a big way. We have laws on defamation, libel or assassination of character and others.
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“There is no need to multiply our laws. As for me, I smell a rat in this hate bill in the sense that those at the helm of affairs have never done anything so well for the good of the people in this country. “So, this hate speech bill would be like giving politicians an opportunity to deal with their own enemies. Who really determines what constitutes hate speech? Anything can be interpreted as hate speech because it is a broad perspective. “So many people will suffer unnecessarily and even be sentenced to death and we don’t need such hatred being peddled at the highest level by the Senate endorsing it. “We are more afraid of politicians than armed robbers because the impunity with which political leaders are operating makes everybody afraid of them. They have robbed us of our integrity, our future and all that we dreamt about”. Vanguard Nigeria News