Following outcry from those who complained it violated principle of glorifying violence, Twitter has deleted a tweet made by President Muhammadu Buhari threatening to deal with ‘people’ who didn’t learn from the Nigerian Civil War.
The President, on Tuesday evening, tweeted the following in response to rising insecurity in parts of the country, especially the south-east:
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,”.
The tweet struck a nerve with some Nigerians who opined that it was a subtle jibe at the Igbo people. Many condemned the tone of the message which referenced the 1967 civil war, in which millions of lives were lost.
The President subtly boasted about the role he played alongside other Nigerian military officers in the Nigerian Civil War of 1966-70, during which over three million Igbo were killed, many of them rounded up and shot at close range or starved to death.
A check on the president’s official account reveals that the Tweet has been removed.
Twitter explained the move by stating that the tweet violated its rules.
“When we determine that a Tweet violated the Twitter Rules, we require the violator to remove it before they can Tweet again. We send an email notification to the violator identifying the Tweet(s) in violation and which policies have been violated.”
