Undeterred by the Federal Government’s ban of Twitter operations in Nigeria, Nigerians logged on to the microblogging site in large numbers on Saturday to lambast the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
The ban took effect barely two days after Twitter, on Wednesday, deleted a controversial tweet posted by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the Biafran war of 1967-1970 which led to loss of many lives.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who on Friday announced the indefinite suspension of the operations of Twitter in the country, cited what he described as “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
According to him, the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission “to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”
Hours later, telecommunications companies in Nigeria, including MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile, started blocking access to Twitter, with the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria saying it had received a directive from the NCC to block access to the social networking site.
The statement titled ‘Order to suspend access to Twitter,’ a copy of which was obtained by Sunday PUNCH, was jointly signed by the ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo; and Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga.
Amid the palpable panic that trailed the announcement on Friday, there was a massive push among members of the Nigerian Twitterati to download virtual private networks as a means of circumventing the Federal Government-imposed ban.
But Malami on Saturday ordered the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation to begin immediate prosecution of violators of the ban.
The AGF’s spokesman, Umar Gwandu, in a statement titled ‘Twitter ban: Malami orders prosecution of offenders,’ said, “Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has directed immediate prosecution of offenders of the Federal Government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria.
“Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
“Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communications Commission and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”
Nigerians fume, dare FG to arrest them
However, the directive drew the ire of Nigerians, who protested the ban with the top-trending hashtag #KeepitOn that had gained over 260,000 tweets at 8.30 pm on Saturday. Among the other top-five trends were #TwitterBan with more than 322,000 tweets, and #BuhariMustGo, which was tweeted over 90,000 times.
A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, tweeted, “Here’s a sliver of hope one finds in this tragedy of our @NigeriaGov’s #TwitterBan. The depth of the administration’s anger shows that our citizens are slowly but surely winning in their demand for a Nigeria that works. Citizens are maturing faster than the ‘leaders.’
“@Twitter enormously helped the emergence of engaged citizens and the voice in our land. Think of #Office of Citizen. The abduction of the 219 ChibokGirls was broadcast on this platform by @BBCNews. I am @obyezeks and vehemently oppose the #TwitterBanNigeria #KeepitOn.”
The Editor-in-Chief, Stears Business, Tokunbo Afikuyomi Jr, tweeted, “2023 is too far. Let’s start pushing impeachment. Successful or not, the threat and momentum of it can be powerful for our present and future democracy.”
Singer-songwriter, Banky Wellington, tweeted, “S’oro s’oke!!! This is not the time to back down. This is the time to speak up and stand up for our rights. They just made young people more motivated than ever to participate in our democracy. No more apathy. #NigeriaBelongsToUs”
Co-founder, #BringBackOurGirls, Aisha Yesufu, in a series of tweets, described Buhari’s 12-year struggle to assume office as a waste, saying she was prepared to face whatever consequences awaited her for her defiance.
She tweeted, “I made peace with myself and have prepared myself for either arrest or assassination. They can only kill my body, but not my voice that is in lots of videos and audios.”
Popular #EndSARS activist, DJ Switch, tagged the Federal Government as “BANdits,” saying they “ban crypto, ban protests, ban Twitter.
