C/River Senator Defends Calling Constituent ‘Imbecile’ Over Cement Theft Allegation

The senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom, has defended his use of the word “imbecile” to describe a constituent, saying doing so is “not prohibitive,” when pressed on whether he had used his Facebook page to brand the constituent in that manner.

The controversy followed a video in which the constituent alleged that cement meant for road construction was being sold off.

The video, uploaded on Tuesday by a person identified as Id Abel, went on to trend on Facebook, accusing the senator of selling cement meant for road construction.

In the video, a voice could be heard saying, “community don dey protest oh, Jarigbe don dey sell cement wey him buy to do road, road wey never finish, him don dey sell cement.

“See am, see am. See people gather. Him don dey sell the cement. Him don the sell am.

“Jarigbe don dey sell the cement wey him buy say him want do road and road him never fit complete the road him don dey sell cement back.”

Responding on his Facebook page, the senator called the constituent an “imbecile,” vowing to make an example of him.

He wrote, “Imagine what a constituent can be spewing. I’m not a Governor, so I will not ignore. The Governor is too busy but I’m not. I will pay attention to this imbecility. The Law has to be applied to all those involved. You guys should allow me exercise my rights for once. This may be a deterrent to other imbeciles.”

The remarks drew angry reactions from some constituents, who cautioned against using the police to enforce his rights through the Cybercrime Act.

Agba Jalingo, publisher of CrossRiverWatch, who has been on the receiving end of the Act, warned the senator not to “join the infamous list of those who use security agencies to harass citizens.”

Citing the 2020 UK case of Scottow v Crown Prosecution Service on appeal, Jalingo said “free speech encompasses the right to offend and even abuse another person.”

He warned that “letting the police investigate or charge people based on subjective feelings or being insulted or offended is a serious interference with democratic free expression,” and urged the senator to call his “lawyer, not the police” to “sue whoever is involved in a civil case.”

When THE WHISTLER contacted the senator to ask what he meant by the remark “the Governor is too busy but I’m not,” and whether he had indeed called the constituent an imbecile, he became angry and accused the reporter of bias for seeking his comment on the matter.

Asked whether he had called the constituent an imbecile, he said, “That’s the only thing you saw.”

When told he had also needlessly involved the Governor in his remarks, he responded, “Excuse me. What did you see first before all of that you are talking about?”

Informed that there was a video, he said, “You saw the video and you picked and chose what to..to come and interrogate.”

When the reporter noted that the video contained an allegation he had not addressed, he retorted, “An allegation that I’m a thief, I stole cement. You saw it.”

Pressed that the reporter was only seeking clarification on whether he had investigated the allegation, he responded, “Allegation of what?. Excuse me!! Does a senator buy cement for contractors? That is that cement bought by contractor to do his job that he is doing was stolen by the senator.

“My friend, go and put yourself together. What are you talking about? Go and put yourself together.”

When reminded that he needed to clarify and explain his position, he said, “What I see in you is bias. They are calling…they are calling a senator a cement thief. That did not concern you.

“The person I refer to as an imbecile that you want me to explain. This is on my wall.

“I refer to him as an imbecile. I should explain that I did not steal cement? Is that what you are saying?”

When reminded that the reporter could not be his defender, he added, “Go and write that I stole cement. Go and write. Go and write that I stole cement. Go and write so. Because those are the only things you know how to write.”

Growing emotional, he said, “I’ve not read anything from you for the past… What have you been writing? Let me know.

“What concerns you is whether Senator stole cement.”

He added, “What your business is is whether the senator called somebody an imbecile. I should come and explain to you that I stole cement.”

When further reminded of his response, particularly regarding his mention of the governor, he asked, “Are you the governor’s aide? I’m asking you: Are you the chief press secretary to the governor? You are the governor’s media aide. Tell me.”

He added, “I have told you what I want to tell you, I said I called him an imbecile. It is black and white.

“He is an imbecile, and it’s only an imbecile that, that would behave like that. And if you know you are biased, you can go ahead and exhibit your bias.”

When the reporter rejected the claim of bias, the senator again grew emotional, saying, “When last did you even talk to me to reach out to me with this kind of nonsense?

“When last did we even communicate? If I called somebody an imbecile, Is it prohibitive?”

He said he had “determined” that the constituent was an imbecile, adding, “You can go to court. I say you can go to court. You can go to court with it. I still refer to him as an imbecile.

“That you sit down and see somebody call me a thief, and then you come and you are more interested in the two words, just opposite the two words, an imbecile and a thief.”