The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, according to statement released on the Ministry’s official Twitter handle.
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.
However, the minister’s statement did not state the time that the ban would be enforced as Twitter is still active in Nigeria at the time of this report.
Earlier in the week, Twitter deleted a tweet by the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, saying that the “tweet violated the Twitter Rules.” Buhari in the tweet condemned the attacks on police stations, prisons and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, especially in the South-East, warning that those supporting insurrection and violence in the country would be shocked.
Buhari had tweeted, “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 Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
— Fed Min of Info & Nat’l Orien (@FMINONigeria) June 4, 2021
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
