Unknown gunmen have reportedly fatally shot Mary Mijebo, a popular Delta State-based TikToker known professionally as Enjoyment Don 75.
The crossdresser TikToker was reportedly attacked while walking in her Warri neighborhood on Sunday, February 11th, 2024.
Other online report said she attacked in her home.
It was also alleged that the attacked was a retaliation by some yet unknown persons she had a business deal with.
The Police have yet to make a public statement on her case.
According to persons who described themselves as her friends and who spoke on condition of anonymity, Mary was rushed to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
It may be recalled that Enjoyment Don 75 had recently celebrated a housewarming party, said to be for her second property after returning from a vacation.
Global concerns about TikTokers’ safety in Nigeria
Meanwhile, TikTokers in Nigeria seem to be having rough times with religious police, especially in Northern parts of the country where the penal code of the Shari’a is in force.
According to a report in April 2023 by the ‘Rest of World,’ a new global nonprofit publication covering the impact of technology beyond the Western bubble, over the past two years, Nazifi Isa Muhammad and his friend, Mubarak Muhammad, had collectively built a TikTok following of nearly 1 million. But, because of the nature of their videos, they sometimes received threats of arrest.
“They had never considered their content political or controversial — and never imagined it would land them in jail for 11 days,” Rest of World says; quoting the duo content producers as saying, “We thought what we were doing was apolitical, [as] we’ve called out dignitaries and leaders from different political parties.”
Over five years ago, he and Mubarak had posted a now-deleted video calling out Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, then governor of Kano State. In the clip, they said the governor slept a lot and was known for selling every piece of land he saw. They satirized allegations of bribery and corruption that had dogged Ganduje since 2018, when a media investigation had captured videos of the governor accepting money from contractors. The state government had denied the allegations, and Ganduje had filed defamation lawsuits against the publication.
Years after the video was posted, Nazifi and Mubarak were detained by the State Intelligence Bureau. On November 7, 2022, the court fined them N10,000 each and convicted them of defaming the governor’s character in the video. The court sentenced them to public flogging and 30 days of community service.
Nazifi told Rest of World that they believed the arrests were based on complaints from the Kano State Censorship Board. “We suffered because we didn’t know who was suing us between the state government and censorship board,” he said.
Nazifi and Mubarak are not the only TikTok creators arrested for allegedly violating religious and moral sensitivities in Nigeria.
Just on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, a Shari’a Court in the Kwana Hudu area of Kano metropolis has ordered the remand of Murja Ibrahim Kunya, a controversial TikToker, at the Kurmawa correctional facility in Kano State.
Murja was arrested early Tuesday by the Kano State Hisbah Board after weeks of manhunt for her and five other TikTokers resident in the state.
She is accused of constituting herself into a public nuisance, indecency, and attempting to recruit young girls into prostitution. The court ordered that she be remanded until it reconvenes on February 27, 2024.
It was, however, gathered that Murja vehemently denied all charges against her during her appearance before the Shari’a court on Tuesday.
The Kano State Hisbah Board had arrested Murja at her residence in the Tishama Hotoro area at 12:46am on Tuesday, following a surge in complaints from community members who expressed concerns over the perceived social media influencer’s negative influence on the youths.
Murja had recently posted a video on TikTok, claiming to exert control over all prostitutes in Kano State, asserting that they will all bow to her.
The development marks Murja Kunya’s second collision with the law and running battle with the Islamic Police in the state, otherwise known as Hisbah.
She was briefly detained in prison in February 2023. At that time, her case centered around a contentious social media content, which earned her serving a lighter punishment of community service.
Other TikTokers on Hisbah’s radar along with Murja were Abubakar Ibrahim (G-Fresh), Sadiya Haruna, Ashiru Idris (Maiwushirya), Ummee Shakira, and Hassan Makeup.
