FG reacts over conviction of Nigerian for cyber crime in UAE

Federal Government through Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) has given more clarification over the case of a Nigerian lady, Ms Dunchi Lar who was convicted under United Arab Emirates laws for recording and circulating “offensive” video on social media.

In a the statement e-signed by the Commission Spokesman, Abdul- Rahman Balogun on Sunday, while shedding more light to the conviction.

Stating that under the UAE cyber crime law, taking video, photograph of someone without his/her consent and posting such on social media is an offence punishable with one year jail term or a fine of approximately $69,000 and $137,000 or both jail term and fine.

Meanwhile, Ms Lar who made and tweeted the viral video of the UAE official at the Airport which warranted her sentence on the 12th of October and has 15 days to appeal the judgement.

This law also applies to eavesdropping, recording, photographing, or disclosing audio or video communication of a person without his/her permission, taking photographs or videos of a dead person or accident victim without such person’s consent.

The Commission said Ms Dunchi Lar can still appeal the ruling and was being assured of moral and consular support by the Nigerian Mission in Dubai.

It was earlier reported that a Nigerian woman, sentenced to a one-year jail term by the United Arab Emirates government for a social media post, showing how some Nigerian nationals were illegally detained at Dubai international airport. 

On 31st August, the Nigerian lady posted on her Twitter how she was detained together with some other Nigerians despite possessing a valid visa.

According to her, “I’m at Dubai international airport and myself and some tiger Nigerians with valid Visas are being held in a room hours after arriving with no explain and no information on what we can do. Please help me. There’s more than 20 of us,” she wrote.

But another Twitter user, @jerrydoubles, claiming to be her relative, on Saturday announced that Ms Lar had been sent to jail for an offence relating to her earlier post in Dubai.

He said, “It is sad and regrettably heartrending to tell you all that @dunchichi was sentenced on 12th Oct 22, to 1yr in jail in Dubai. Her family are devastated and Nigeria didn’t save her.”

“Her sentence came from the backdrop that she got a family visa to travel. But in fact, she was there with her sister.

“It got messy and complicated, she was released on arrival after being detained for several hours, only to be sentenced when she was returning to Nigeria.

“They are capitalising on the fact that she made a video then posted them on her Twitter timeline to narrate the ordeal.

“They said it’s cybercrime in their country. She went ahead to delete it. Still, that didn’t soften them. Now she is jailed #justicefordinci.”

He further added that her family were planning to protest her conviction at the Dubai consulate office in Abuja.

“If you stay in Abuja or know someone who does and would love to join us,” his tweet added.

In another vein, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 542 Nigerian returnees from United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The head of press unit of NEMA, Manzo Ezekiel confirmed the development in a statement on Sunday morning.

Ezekiel said the returnees are made up of 79 males, 460 females and three children, arrived in Nigeria on Sunday morning.

He said they were examined by health administrators and profiled by relevant authorities, including the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), before they were given transport fares to return to their various destinations.

The statement reads, “A total of 542 stranded Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) evacuated back home by the Federal Government arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on board Maxair charted flight on Sunday morning at 4:29am.

“The evacuees consisted of 79 males, 460 females and 3 infants.

“They were received by a Federal Government team led by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and airport officials, security agencies including National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), NAPTIP, Nigerian Diaspora Commission, NDLEA, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Customs service, Port Health Services, NCDC and others.

“On arrival, the returnees were screened by the Health officials, profiled by various relevant agencies and cleared by Nigerian Immigration Service before being given a token of transport fare by NEMA before leaving the airport.

“Earlier, Director General NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed who officially received the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government admonished them to learn from their experiences and be law abiding citizens to promote economic growth and positive image of Nigeria.

“The NEMA boss who was represented by the Director of Finance and Accounts Alhaji Sani Ahmed Jiba said the Federal Government had approved the evacuation and provision of the token for the returnees to support their local movement back home.

“In her remarks, the Consul General of Nigeria in Dubai Ambassador Atinuke Taibat Mohammed who accompanied the returnees back on the flight appreciated the Federal Government for the special intervention in safe evacuation of the stranded citizens back home.