Nigeria suspends Twitter indefinitely

Nigeria on Friday indefinitely suspended Twitter’s activities two days after the social network deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The federal government has suspended, indefinitely, the activities of the microblogging and social networking service Twitter in Nigeria,” the Ministry of Information and Culture said in the statement, reported africanews.

On Wednesday, the microblogging site deleted a tweet by the President which Nigerians had criticized as a declaration of war.

In the deleted tweet, Buhari had made a reference to the country’s 30-month civil war in 1967-1970, warning “those who wanted the government to fail” to desist from fomenting trouble.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria 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 president tweeted on Tuesday night.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed accused Twitter of ‘having an agenda’, reported africanews.

“The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very, very suspect. Has Twitter deleted the violent tweets that Nnamdi Kanu has been sending,” Mohammed wondered.

Kanu is the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The main aim of IPOB is to create an independent state for the people of old Eastern Region of Nigeria through an independent referendum. He lives in exile in Israel.

When people were burning police stations and killing police officers during #ENDSARS, for Twitter it was about the right to protest. But when a similar thing happened on the Capitol, it was insurrection”, Mohammed said, reported africanews.

Earlier, the Nigerian government on Wednesday had expressed doubts about Twitter’s mission in the country, accusing the US technology company of double standards and supporting the secessionists in the west African country.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed took a swipe at Twitter after it deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari who issued a warning to troublemakers in Nigeria.

“We have a country to rule, and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda. The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious,” Mohammed said. Livemint