Using A Toy Gun To Threaten Or Scare Individual Is A Crime- CP Lagos State – SIXT-MEDIA LANE
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Owohunwa Jimoh, has said that using a stun gun to threaten or instill fear in another person is a criminal offence under Nigerian law.
Speaking Thursday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, Jimoh addressed the case involving Pastor Paul Adefarasin of House on the Rock Church, who was recently interrogated after a viral video showed him holding a black object while engaging a road user from his car.
So, pointing a stun gun at another individual and sending that threat and fear to such a person at that particular time constitutes an offence,” Jimoh stated. “The police are doing everything in line with the law.”
He explained that although the object recovered from the pastor was not a lethal weapon, it is still considered prohibited riot equipment under the law. “Nothing is an offence under the law, except what the law states to be an offence,” he said.
Even under the Firearms Act, if you fashion out anything that is not metal, like wood, and you make it look like a gun, and you use that guise to take possession of property from another person, you have committed armed robbery.”
Jimoh said the police had prepared a warrant of arrest, “in case he refused to comply with the invitation,” but added that Adefarasin turned himself in voluntarily and was questioned by a team of investigators already working on the matter.
He also revealed that the individual whom Adefarasin pointed the stun gun at would be invited to give a statement.
It is equally on social media that the person he pointed it to is a content creator and we are taking a statement from him as soon as he equally gets to us because we have got his address and we’re going to get him to make a statement in that regard.”
While confirming that Adefarasin had been granted bail, the police commissioner said, “The pastor is still under investigation but we will continue with the investigation and make the outcome of the investigation public for all Nigerians to know.”
Reacting to the incident, Pastor Adefarasin took to his official X handle to dispel the rumours, stating: “You might be aware of a video which has been circulating on social media showing me in what some have misunderstood as brandishing a firearm. I want to assure you of this, that was certainly not a firearm, and at no point did I point such at anyone.”
During last Sunday’s service, which was streamed on the church’s YouTube channel, the 62-year-old cleric further addressed the controversy, saying: “I was falsely accused of bearing a firearm, pointing a firearm at an aggressive content creator who came within personal distance.”
“The only thing separating him and me was maybe three-quarters of a metre and a glass. I do not have a pistol licence. I do not carry a firearm, and I pointed no firearm at anybody.”
He described the reaction to the video as “hurtful” and “malicious,” alleging it was driven by online opportunists: “We have witnessed clickbaiters just looking for more money. I probably wasn’t even their target; their target was to make more money.”
Reflecting on the emotional toll of the situation, Adefarasin added, “I am human. But God is touched by our infirmities and can first give us succour. And what the enemy means for evil, He works for good.”
The investigation into the incident is ongoing
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