Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami
The Federal 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 every
day.
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, which
was obtained by The PUNCH on
Thursday.
The government had on June 4, 2021,
suspended Twitter barely two days after
the social media platform deleted a
tweet by the President, Major-General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
However, many Nigerians have
bypassed the Twitter suspension by
using Virtual Private Network.
Malami 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.
The government further stated that
Nigerians should direct their anger at
Twitter and not the government because
Twitter would not have been suspended
if it complied with Nigeria’s laws.
It told the court that the Twitter
suspension would be lifted once the
platform registers with the NBC and the
Corporate Affairs Commission.