Gill Atkinson, British deputy high commissioner to Nigeria,
says the federal government must respect the right of Nigerians to freedom of
expression.
Her comment follows the suspension of Twitter’s operations
in Nigeria by the federal government.
Lai Mohammed, minister of information, had announced the “indefinite”
suspension in a statement issued on Friday by Segun Adeyemi, his spokesman.
According to the statement, the minister cited “the
persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining
Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
“The Minister said
the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission
(NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media
operations in Nigeria,” Adeyemi added.
In a tweet posted after the announcement, Atkinson said any
action taken by the government must be measured.
“All Nigerians have the right to freedom of speech and the
responsibility not to misuse that right. Any action taken by Government must be
measured, proportionate and not supress basic freedoms,” she tweeted.
Twitter’s suspension by the federal government comes days
after a post by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 1967 civil war was deleted by
the microblogging platform.
In a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday, the president
had condemned the attacks on government facilities in the country.
Citing a reference to the civil war experience, Buhari had
threatened to deal with those “bent on destroying” Nigeria “through
insurrection” in “a language they understand”.
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