The Nigerian government has informed a Lagos Federal High
Court that it has not stopped Nigerians from using Twitter.
It disclosed that many Nigerians are still using the social
media platform daily.
The Nigerian government and Attorney-General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami in a counter-affidavit deposed to in response to an
originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
In the affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf of the Federal Government, Malami said the suspension of Twitter was not an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using social media platform.
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.”
Recall that the Nigerian government had recently suspended
the activities of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had
explained that Nigerians were using the micro-blogging site for activities
against the unity of the country.
Following the ban, Malami had threatened to prosecute
Nigerians discovered to be using the platform.
Against the backdrop of this decision, a Rights lawyer,
Effiong, had dragged the Federal government to court.
Effiong joined Mohammed and Malami in the suit for
suspending Twitter.
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