UK-based Nigerian Sentenced To Prison For Hateful Post Against A Certain Nigerian Ethnic Group

Adeyinka Shoyemi, a UK-based Nigerian man, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for inciting racial hate with offensive messages supporting violence in Nigeria.

Shoyemi, a 45-year-old, was originally brought to the notice of UK counter-terror police in March 2019 when people alerted them of some offensive posts, aimed at a specific Nigerian ethnic group.

The comments, which were uploaded by a user with the name ‘Adeyinka Grandson,’ were evaluated by a specialist group of police in the Met’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, according to the UK-based Evening Standard on Friday.

The police flagged the posts, which included comments supporting attacks against the Igbo ethnic group, as highly illegal and initiated an investigation.

Officers searched three properties linked to him and seized different digital gadgets when he was first apprehended in August 2019 at his residence.

He was charged with six charges of inciting racial hate and released on bail with the condition that he not make any more social media messages that were threatening, abusive, or insulting to any ethnic group.

Shoyemi was later re-arrested when he disobeyed his bail terms as he resumed posting more hate messages.

Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, November 30, he was convicted guilty of eight counts of inciting racial hate and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

The head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Richard Smith, said, “Our Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit – the first of its kind to be established anywhere in the world – was instrumental in identifying Shoyemi and his activity.

“Over the last ten years, the CTIRU has been at the forefront of getting harmful content removed from the internet and detecting and investigating potential terrorist-related activity online.

“We continue to need the help and support of the public and I would encourage anyone who comes across material or posts that could be related to terrorism or violent extremist activity to report it to us so that our specialist officers can take action where necessary.”