Reno Omokri, social commentator, contends that the prison sentence imposed on the infamous transgender person Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, went beyond simple misappropriation of Naira.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced Bobrisky to six months in jail without a fine for naira mutilation.
But Omokri said that the crossdresser was being suppressed by the Nigerian government using the Naira abuse allegations as a pretext.
He claimed that although the Nigerian government was “aware of the fact that any direct move in that regard would earn it the whip of the Western powers,” it nevertheless wished to crack down on the cross-dressing culture that was becoming popular in the nation.
On his X handle, he praised Nigeria’s savviness and intellectual response to governing, contrasting it with other nations..
“The Nigerian government obviously wanted to clamp down on the trending cross-dressing culture in Nigeria. But the government was also aware of the fact that any direct move in that regard would earn it the whip of the Western powers
“The Tinubu administration was in a dilemma. How to deal with Bobrisky for being a cross-dresser but not to make it about his being a cross-dresser. And this is where you have to respect the subtlety of the Tinubu administration. They found a creative genius way.
“Bobrisky violated a law against the abuse of the Naira. That is why a first-time offender committed an offence that even government officials engaged in during Buhari’s son’s wedding, and, despite pleading guilty, was sentenced to six months in prison”
“In fact, there is more video evidence of Naira abuse via spraying at the wedding of no less a person than Abdul Aziz Malami, the son of Abubakar Malami, SAN, Nigeria’s Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
“And the scapegoating of Bobrisky has worked. Since his arrest, have you seen any of his ‘colleagues’ prancing about
“We used to see them almost daily on blogs and social media. The traditional media, too, could not have enough of them. They got the memo. They have run for cover since the Chairwoman answered to the gender of male in court when asked to state ‘her’ gender.”