By Thomas-Wilson Ikubese
A few days ago, Tiwa Savage the Nigerian pop singer revealed during an interview with American On Air Personality, Angie Martinez of Power 105.1, that she was being blackmailed by an unknown person who threatened to release a sex tape featuring her and her current lover, except she paid a ransom.
The pop singer however said she’d decided not to pay the blackmailer because characteristically, blackmailers always come back and ask for more.
Seeing that Tiwa was not willing to play games, in the wee hours of 19th October, the blackmailer made good the threat and released the tape online which has since gone viral!
I’ve read myriads of comments of how “disappointed” many people are about Tiwa Savage over the tape.
Many blamed her for having intercourse at all!
Some blamed her for recording herself during the act…
Others nailed her for not ‘settling’ the blackmailer to keep her from this ‘generational’ ridicule.
To my amazement, I’m yet to read a comment that castigates the blackmailer!
Well, maybe I’ve not read wide enough…
Tiwa did what many of us do…had sexual intercourse with her partner. Who the partner was, we have no idea as his face was not on the tape
Did he commit any offence known to LAW? The answer is “no”.
Did he commit any offence known to MORALITY? The answer depends on who is making the analysis.
Perhaps, the nagging question is, “why record yourself during sexual intercourse”?
The obvious answer is “adventure”!
Now, my question to you…
Have you at any time been involved in sexual adventures with your partner?
I’m asking you that is reading this article!
Then…
Suppose those episodes were captured and released to the public by a mischievous being?
Did you just say “impossible”?
Ok, several years ago as an adventurous newly wed, I recorded an intimate moment with my wife, just for the fun of it!
Yes!
You ‘heard’ me right!
So, if my phone had gone missing and a fellow had called for ransome as not to release the tape…and I called off the bluff…and bhooom, my ‘do-the-do’ tape with Àtùpà goes viral!
So, this is how you guys would have castigated me, just because your own private ‘do-the-do’ is not in public glare?
By the way, what would have been the difference between my tape and that of Tiwa?
Perhaps, the major difference would have been that I was doing it with my wife, while she was doing it with an unknown partner, being unmarried at the moment.
And if a religious figure is the one doing the analysis, she would be said to have committed fornication, a position that holds no water in the eyes of a non-religious folk.
This was the reason I stated earlier that the answer to the question of whether Tiwa committed any offence known to MORALITY depends on who is making the analysis.
Just maybe, a lesson that should not be overlooked now, is keeping the cameras off the adventurous space…for thou knowest not where the wind bloweth the images!
However, what is not contentious in this hullabaloo is the LEGALITY thereof.
In the eyes of the law, sharing and posting nude contents is a criminal offence.
Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015 criminalizes leaking and sharing sex tapes.
The right to dignity of human person and privacy that is guaranteed under section 34 and 37 of the Nigerian Constitution has been maliciously violated by whosoever leaked and shared that video.
So, all of you that retweeted that video and took delight in sharing it are as guilty as the one who leaked it originally!
The fellow who called and demanded ransome from Tiwa is guilty of blackmail and should be prosecuted.
The offence of blackmail is created by section 87 of the Crimes Act 1958.
Section 87(3) provides that a person guilty of blackmail is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to level 4 imprisonment (15 years maximum).
Tiwa should make the phone number of the caller available to law enforcement agents who should track, arrest and prosecute the fellow to serve as a deterrent to others
Suffice to say that the homes and businesses of many folks have been ruined by blackmailers in the past and even now, because our society will always blame the victim while the blackmailer walks freely, in search of the next victim!
This attitude of ours, perhaps unknown to us, is the incentive that has kept blackmailers in their trade.
So, when next you see a victim of blackmail, call for the arrest and prosecution of the blackmailer!
Even if we have to scold the victim eventually, let us toe the line of the Yoruba adage which says, “let’s chase away the hawk first, before coming back to scold the chick that strolls unguided in the open field”!
