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By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
Her countenance was stiff and mean as she addressed the obviously confused young lady. Dressed in a black T-Shirt and shorts, and sporting a yellow-coloured hair-do, she was obviously angry, even as she pulled the object of her verbal assault.
“Give me my N100,000 or I will disgrace you in this market. You stole my money the last time you visited me, and you think that I will not trace it to you,” she screamed at the other lady, who kept denying that they had ever met.
“I don’t know you. Why are you embarrassing me” she said almost in tears. Her words fell on deaf ears. Her accuser, who continued yelling, pulled off the lady’s wig and held on to her gown, to the bafflement of the crowd that had gathered and was watching the scene. Some in the crowd attempted to mediate and called on the two to settle the matter amicably, but the seemingly angry lady, who said her money had been stolen, refused all entreaties. The accused lady, who was now close to tears, begged her attacker to take everything she had but that she should spare her such embarrassment. It was at that point that the accuser shouted: “It is a prank,” pointing at a camera man who was hiding in the crowd.
In this new era of making money online through skits, such scene is now becoming common. The producers refer to such skits as pranks. A prank, which is defined as a malicious or mischievous trick, could be mild even though some others tend to be extreme. It may be a fake armed robbery attack, kidnap, rape, death, pregnancy, presence of an explosives, the announcement of an imminent accident or a false terrorist threat. Most of the targets end up shaken and walk away from the scene while few laugh and exchange pleasantries with the producers of the prank.
In another online scenario, a woman with a baby strapped to her back was offered N10,000 to remove her pants in a public place. After confirming that the money was actually available, she was seen attempting to remove her underwear. That was when the prankster stopped her and said ‘it’s a prank.’ On realising that the scene was recorded, the woman, who obviously is someone’s wife, panicked and pleaded with the prankster not to expose her.” Please, don’t do this to me, I have children to feed; that’s why I did it,” she said while begging the producer in the video that was later shared by the prankster on social media.
In yet another scenario, a well dressed woman walking to the Bus Stop at Agege area of Lagos to board a bus to work, suddenly got her wig snatched by a prankster. In the video also shared on various social media platforms, the woman was seen screaming and running after the prankster who snatched her wig. In the process, she fell into a gutter sustaining minor injuries and with her clothes soaked in dirty water.
On realising the disaster his so-called prank had caused, the prankster turned back and said: ‘it’s a prank!’ This did not go down well with onlookers who pounced on the young man and gave him a thorough trouncing.
What the law says
Although majority of the viewers tend to get entertained by such recordings, lawyers who spoke with Saturday Sun argued that such acts are totally wrong and should be banned.
Kazeem Adekunle Adebanjo, a lawyer, asserted that pranks generally have no place in the laws of the country.
Hear him: “A prank that leads to the assault of the victim is no longer a prank, unless he consents to it under the principle of volenti non fit injuria. That means that no harm is done to he who is willing. The victim has every right to sue the prankster for assault and claim damages. The only defence available to the prankster is where the victim consented to being pranked and the skit is done for the entertainment of the watching public. An assault is an assault, unless the right to sue is waved by the victim. The example you gave is very precarious, where the prankster watches as the victim is lynched and later comes to claim it was a prank,” he argued.
Another lawyer, Cynthia Dom-Attah, also argued that “prank” is not exculpatory under Nigerian laws as written in Section 24 of the Criminal Code. She said: “It is pure defamation of character and a huge damage will be awarded. Whether the prank goes right or wrong, it may result in legal trouble for the people who initiate or actively participate in the prank. Any person who publishes any defamatory matter is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year. And any person who publishes any defamatory matter knowing it to be false is liable to imprisonment for two years.
“It also affects bloggers who lend their platforms to the circulation or dissemination of a defamatory matter. It also concerns every other social media user who reproduces a defamatory matter in the name of sharing or forwarding as received.
“Accordingly, once it is shown that a person has published a matter which is defamatory, it is not a defence to plead that the publication was meant as a joke or a prank which is shorthand for saying that the defendant did not intend to injure the reputation of the victim. This is because the intention to injure the reputation of the other person is not an element of the offence of defamation under the Criminal Code.
“Therefore, the intention or motive is irrelevant to the determination of whether the offence of defamation has been committed. Also, a prankster who publishes a defamatory matter can be liable under either type of criminal defamation since he obviously knows the publication to be false.”
She also cited the case of popular musician, David Adeleke (Davido), who was accused by two unknown girls of impregnating one of them. Days after the video had gone viral, the girls now claimed it was just a prank.
“On October 23, 2019, Davido was accused by two sisters of impregnating one of them in a four- minute, 36-second video first released on instablog9ja, a self-styled news and media Instagram handle which boasts of more than 2.6 million followers. The video attracted huge attention and generated a lot of debate.
“Davido then placed a one million naira bounty on whoever could identify the ladies with their names, social media handles and other details. The ladies were later found and arrested, and he promised to sue them for N30 billion. The two ladies came out to say they were only joking. If Davido had followed that case up, the ladies would be jailed or forced to pay a huge fine.
“While pranks usually evoke laughter and are intended to be innocuous, they may sometimes get out of hand and cause injury to others,” she stated.
Pranksters can be arrested- police
Meanwhile the Police High Command has warned skit makers to stop doing pranks that might lead to breakdown of law and order. The police warned that such prankster would be arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police who gave the warning further stated that it is dangerous to make pranks. “It is very dangerous to make pranks and we have been warning skit makers. It is dangerous for those who are hypertensive or having bad health. In a case of those with arms, if you do a nonsense prank, you may pay heavily for it. By nonsense prank, I meant pranks that lack sense and basis.
“Most importantly the effects may attract sanctions and punishments. So, the end result of such dangerous pranks determines the nature of the offence and subsequent punishment according to law.”
Nigerians react
Steve Adeleke, a businessman in Lagos, vowed to beat up any skit maker who dares to play a bad prank on him. “I will personally beat up the skit maker and the camera man. How can you accuse me of theft and turn around to say that it’s a prank? There is a high possibility that most of the people who saw the beginning did not wait to see the end. Anything that threatens my life or image is not permitted,” he warned.
Kelechi Adindu, an IT expert in Abia State, advised skit makers to opt for professionals to act as victims if the intention is to share the content on social media. “There is nothing funny about those extreme cases in the name of pranks. Even the foreigners who we learnt all these things from do not do extreme ones without the knowledge of the target. If you watch either the beginning or the end, they will explain that it was an arranged scene. They are aware that such act might attract sanctions or even jail terms. It is wrong to embarrass people, record it and share on social media. People are battling with a lot of issues and any of such can lead to medical issue. I pray that our government will regulate their activities,” he stated.
A student, Cynthis Dike volunteered to act for skit makers if he would be well compensated. “Nigerians are so desperate that they can do anything to make money. They should do it the right way and pay anyone that you intend to use to make money. If I discover that it’s a prank and it was recorded, I will destroy the tape except they will compensate me. You need to seek my consent before you use me to make money. I can even act surprised so that your audience will think that it’s real. How can you make a mockery of me and still use same recording to make money? It is evil and should be condemned,” she opined.
A clergyman, Ndubuisi Umunna insisted that public place prank is morally unacceptable. He said: “Considering that the purpose is to generate traffic on YouTube accounts and Facebook pages, if not done with the consent of the public or without any form of monetary agreement, it is fraud. It is also an unsafe venture as it may lead to accidents and sudden deaths. There are many people out there who are going through psychological/emotional trauma that a little shock can lead to sudden heart attacks. This should be regulated or stopped completely.”
