Intimidation and Selective Persecution: The Invasion of My Facebook Acct by Unknown Forces Continues.

A few days ago, my privacy, my fundamental rights were invaded and violated. My Facebook account was literally taken over by unknown forces. I couldn't edit the short story I was working on, and I couldn't log out of my account as well. What they did was beyond human comprehension. At the time I regained control of my account, the story and picture I shared from the Daily Trust Newspaper were gone - they killed it. The cowards who invaded my account clandestinely expunged the attached Daily Trust story and picture about the unfortunate Nigerians on forced migration from their ancestral homeland (Baga and Doro villages) into the unknown.  

Initially, I thought it was Facebook that executed the unsolicited editing. But when I came back to Facebook later in the day, I discovered that the same story from the Daily Trust was still available elsewhere on FaceBook. Amazing. So, why the interest on the one that I shared?

Facebook does not engage in a selective pre-emptive strike or prior restraint. They would either take a video or a story down comprehensively across the board, or they would obscure it with a pointer: viewer discretion is advised.

Prior restraint has its constitutional limitations. Granted, we are at war with unknown bandits operating in the Northwest and the Boko Haram sect colonizing the Northeast. But that does not grant the Nigerian Armed Forces, security agencies, or the secret techy pros working for them an unqualified privilege to invade my privacy or embark on a course of conduct that undermines the privacy of Nigerians in the social media.

How does a newspaper's story that shows the picture of hapless Nigerians, hanging on to a few of their belongings, walking hundreds of miles out of their ancestral homes to unknown destinations in other to evade the indiscriminate killing and enslavement by the Boko Haram sect, constitute a security threat or  complicate the ability of the Nigerian Armed Forces to prosecute its war against the sect? Seriously, how? That was the story that I shared.

It takes expertise to be able to invade someone's account and yanked off an attached story from a different source, but not the accompanying comment. I am a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE); and to a certain degree, I am technologically savvy. But this one is beyond my understanding. It is totally beyond changing your password. Nothing private anymore, including all the messages that I have sent and received.

In the next paragraph, you will see a verbatim reproduction of the story, dated January 06, 2019, titled "The Journey to Nowhere" that prompted the invasion.

"Internally Displaced Persons: Homeless and Hopeless in their own country, while Abuja luxuriates in an ambiance of splendor and opulence. Baga or Doro, they are, but first, Nigerians like you and I. So, remember the victims of a stupid war, and of a journey to nowhere, when you cast your votes in February. Because the impacts of the broken promise of peace and security are not evenly shared."

I am not a subversive element. I have never advocated for the dismantling of Nigeria or agitated for a forceful overthrow of a democratically elected government. I study Government and Leadership at a graduate level, and I know what obtains when national security is under the threshold of 'Clear and Present Danger.' Those who invaded my account have access to my phone number, email address, and even messenger. Why not simply send a text or a phone call, advising me to take down the Daily Trust story? Trust me, I would have gladly complied. 

A few years ago, precisely, during President Jonathan's administration, I wrote a disparaging essay about a popular Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi on this Blog. After the publication, I received a long and persuasively written email from an unknown Nigerian, advising me that trash-talking the Sheikh the way I did in my essay, is descending to the same level I condemned in him. The writer was most concerned about two sentences. and I promised him or her that I will delete them. And I did. I did not stop there, after considering the friendly tone of his email and the thank you note, I went back to my Blog, and kill the entire story. And more thanks from the unknown, followed. 

There are lots of essays on my Facebook Wall and this Blog that are not made public. I did that because of national interest. I don't want history to record me as the unknown writer who instigated the dismantling or the collapse of Nigeria as a nation-state. So, I do know when to draw the line and when to take a stand on sensitive national issues. I have always been an unrepentant advocate of True Federalism and Decentralization of power. That Abuja is incapable of managing our abundant natural resources and the highly talented brains of this great country is no longer in doubt. The Minister of Transportation, Governor Amaechi, can attest to that, based on his recent revelations.

Nigeria is not a Monarchy and we don't have an Emperor as a leader or ruler. No one is above the law. Not the citizens. And not those saddled with the leadership of this great nation.

I am not running away from social media. You must be a coward to invade and take control of my phone number and my Facebook Account. You could rent and hire some dubious experts to execute your clandestine and fruitless hacking but you couldn't do the same to restore peace and security in the land.