The Community Court of Justice, Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) has issued an order restraining President Muhammadu
Buhari or any member of his administration from prosecuting any Nigerian for
using Twitter.
The ruling followed the suit filed against the government by
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned
Nigerians over the development.
The plaintiffs urged the court to grant “a declaration that
the action of the defendant and its agents in suspending the operation of
Twitter or any other social media and microblogging application without an
order of a competent court of jurisdiction is unlawful, inconsistent and
incompatible with Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“A declaration that the act of the defendant in mandating its agent to commence and continue to regulate the social media in Nigeria amounts to restriction and censorship, thus violating Nigeria’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“A declaration that the act of the defendant and its agents
in suspending the operation of Twitter or any other social media and
microblogging application in Nigeria without any offence known to law is
incompatible with Nigeria’s international human rights obligations, and are
therefore null and void to the extent of their inconsistency and
incompatibility”.
On June 4, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, had announced
the “indefinite” suspension of Twitter’s operations in the country.
According to the minister, the social media platform was
engaging in activities that “undermine Nigeria’s existence”.
Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation, had
subsequently ordered the prosecution of anyone who violated the ban.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the ECOWAS court granted an
interim injunction “restraining the government of President Muhammadu Buhari
and its agents from unlawfully imposing sanctions or doing anything whatsoever
to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute Twitter and/or any other social
media service provider(s), media houses, radio and television broadcast
stations, the Plaintiffs and other Nigerians who are Twitter users, pending the
hearing and determination of this suit”.
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