The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Saturday, issued an order for the enforcement of the ban placed on Twitter by the Nigerian government.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, Malami ordered the prosecution of violators of the suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Federal Government had Friday suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service site in Nigeria, citing the persistent use of the Twitter platform for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Twitter ban was announced by the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, two days after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet posted Tuesday wherein he threatened to deal with secessionists “in the language they understand”.
The social media giant had said the tweet violated the Twitter Rules.
The President had released series of tweets after meeting with the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, wherein he warned that those promoting insurrection and those sponsoring destruction of critical national assets would soon have the shock of their lives.
He had also threatened to deal with “those misbehaving today” “in the language they understand.”
The ban has attracted widespread condemnations as Nigerians described it as violation of rights of citizens and a prelude to dictatorship.
Telcos blocked access to Twitter accounts in Nigeria Saturday but Nigerians are navigating their way around the ban through Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers to access the microblogging site by hiding their internet footprints
The statement said Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
“Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”
