The Federal Government also denied knowledge of Twitter
deleting Buhari’s tweet on the Biafra civil which offended many Nigerians.
The Nigerian Government has told a Federal High Court in
Lagos that it has not stopped Nigerians from using social media platform,
Twitter, adding that many Nigerians are still using it to criticise its
policies.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami,
and the Federal Government said this in a counter-affidavit they deposed to in
response to an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe
Effiong, according to The PUNCH.
SaharaReporters had reported how the government in June
2021 suspended Twitter, saying it threatened its corporate existence.
The platform was suspended after Twitter deleted a
statement tweeted by President Muhammadu Buhari, which many Nigerians found
distasteful.
But since the ban, many Nigerians have bypassed the
Twitter suspension by using Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Malami later in a statement threatened to prosecute
Nigerians still using the platform while the National Broadcasting Commission
ordered all radio and television stations to stop using Twitter or picking
content from the platform.
Rights lawyer, Effiong, subsequently sued the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Malami, and the Federal Government for
suspending the social media platform.
In the fundamental human rights suit marked
FHC/L/CS/542/2021, Effiong is seeking nine reliefs, including an order of
perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further suspending,
deactivating or banning the operation and accessibility of Twitter or any other
social media service in Nigeria because the act was in violation of his rights.
Effiong asked the court to declare as illegal the threat
of criminal prosecution by Malami and Lai Mohammed against Nigerians who
‘violate’ the suspension or ban of Twitter, despite the absence of any written
law.
In an affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf
of the Federal Government and the AGF, it was stated that the suspension of
Twitter was not an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using
Twitter despite the suspension.
It read in part, “The applicant (Effiong) and the class
he seeks to represent can still operate those Twitter accounts from anywhere in
the world and even from Nigeria. Nigerians are still tweeting, even at this
moment as the ban on Twitter is not aimed at intimidating Nigerians or an
infringement on the rights of Nigerians to express their opinion.
“The respondents (Federal Government and AGF) have never
stopped the applicant (Effiong) and the class of persons he seeks to represent
from voicing their opinions to access government information and offer
criticism where necessary.”
The government told the court that Nigerians are still
free to use other platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Tiktok and others.
The Federal Government also denied knowledge of Twitter
deleting Buhari’s tweet on the Biafra civil which offended many Nigerians.
It said Twitter had made its platform accessible to
elements like Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra; and
had supported the #EndSARS protests of October 2020 which was later hijacked by
hoodlums.
It told the court that the Twitter suspension would be
lifted once the platform registers with the NBC and the Corporate Affairs
Commission.
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