Navy Releases Comedian Cute Abiola After 19 Days In Detention

The Nigerian Navy has released Instagram comedian and Naval personnel Abdulgafar Ahmad Oluwatoyin aka Cute Abiola from detention.

Naval spokesperson, Commodore Suleman Dahun, confirmed his release on Friday.

The comedian spent 19 days in the custody of the Nigerian Navy.

DOWNLOAD

Some of his colleagues, including the popular Mr. Macaroni, had raised the alarm over his whereabouts. Cute Abiola’s last post on Instagram was on November 14.

Following the sustained public interest in the matter, particularly on social media, his employer – the Nigerian Navy – clarified in a statement on November 17 that the comedian was in its custody.

Recall that Cute Abiola was detained for posting a video of himself in military uniform on social media, an act which violates the armed forces’ social media policy.

Navy spokesperson, Suleiman Dahun, said the policy specifies the dos and don’ts of personnel as well as salient regulations concerning their usage of social media on issues of official concerns.

Checks show that the Nigerian Armed Forces Social Media Policy is embedded in the Armed Forces Act of 2017. The law gives guidelines for use of Social Media by military personnel including the extent to which members of their families are allowed to use social media.

Cute Abiola is not a stranger to controversies. He was arrested in 2020 after his birthday pictures in Navy uniform went viral.

His offence was a breach of the Nigerian Armed Forces Social Media Policy. He was later released on May 4, 2020.