Adeyinka Grandson, the convener of the Young Yorubas for Freedom (YYF), has been sentenced to four and half years in prison for racial hatred with inflammatory messages encouraging violence in Nigeria.
In August 2019, Shoyemi, popularly known as Adeyinka Grandson, was arrested in London over his social media posts against some ethnic groups in Nigeria, with officers searching three properties linked to him and seizing various digital devices.
The UK-based Nigerian gained prominence on social media for his vituperation against people of Igbo extraction as well as criticism of the Hausa-Fulani.
He was later released on bail on the condition that he would not make any comments or posts to threaten or abuse any ethnic group.
In May 2020, he was charged with six counts of inciting racial hatred.
After being released on bail, he was said to have further made offending social media posts, which led to his re-arrest in October 2020 with an addition of two counts to his previous six-count charge.
In October 2020, a video wherein Grandson issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Igbo to leave Yorubaland, appeared on the social media — a threat that was denounced by Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate.
However, he was later rearrested after he flouted his bail conditions to make more of the posts. Consequently two more inciting racial hatred charges were added.
On Friday, the UK metropolitan police, in a statement, announced that Grandson was sentenced to imprisonment for four and a half years, UK-based Evening Standard reports.
Messages, posted by accounts under the name ‘Adeyinka Grandson’ of Powis Terrace in Notting Hill were assessed by a specialist group of officers in the Met’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit.
They found the posts, which had commentary encouraging attacks against certain ethnic groups, especially the Igbo, were in potential breach of the law and launched a probe.
Shoyemi was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ behind bars on Thursday.
He was found guilty on November 30 of eight counts of inciting racial hatred after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said;
Our Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit – the first of its kind to be established anywhere in the world – was instrumental in identifying Shoyemi and his activity. Over the last ten years, the CTIRU has been at the forefront of getting harmful content removed from the internet and detecting and investigating potential terrorist-related activity online.
It added;
We continue to need the help and support of the public and I would encourage anyone who comes across material or posts that could be related to terrorism or violent extremist activity to report it to us, so that our specialist officers can take action where necessary.
