The Lagos State Police Commissioner has made it clear that using a stun gun to threaten someone is against the law, even if the weapon is not lethal.
CP Owohunwa Jimoh, made this known during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program. He was speaking on the recent viral incident involving Pastor Paul Adefarasin, the Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church.
The pastor was seen in a now widely shared video holding a device that appeared to be a weapon during an interaction with a man in Lagos.
The Commissioner noted that regardless of whether a weapon is deadly or not, pointing it at someone in a threatening way is considered a criminal act.
“Nothing is an offence under the law, except what the law states to be an offence,” he said. He also explained that under Nigerian law, even objects that are not real firearms, like wooden items made to look like guns, could be classified under armed robbery if used to threaten or deceive.
“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,” he noted.
According to Jimoh, the police were already preparing to arrest Pastor Adefarasin after sending him a formal invitation.
“He was invited; a letter of invitation was sent to him. In fact, we had prepared our warrant of arrest, in case he refused to comply with the invitation,” he said. Fortunately, the pastor chose to report himself to the authorities voluntarily and was questioned by detectives already working on the case.
The police commissioner confirmed that what was found on Adefarasin was a stun gun, not a firearm. However, he pointed out that stun guns are still considered prohibited riot control equipment in Nigeria. “We further questioned him (as to) why he pointed such to another individual,” Jimoh said.
He also revealed that the person seen in the video with the pastor will be invited by the police to provide 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,” the Commissioner added.
Although Adefarasin has been granted bail, the investigation is still ongoing.
