By Onyebuchi Ezeigbo
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said tweeting is in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The revered Christian leader, who has a huge following in Nigeria and around the world, tweeted the stance of his church on the controversial suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government.
“The Redeemed Christian Church of God is domiciled in more than 170 nations and territories. The tweets here are in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations universal declaration of human rights,” Adeboye tweeted on Monday.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The Federal Government had Friday suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the micro-blogging 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 wherein he threatened to deal with secessionists “in the language they understand”.
The social media networking site had said the tweet violated the Twitter Rules.
The ban has attracted widespread condemnations as Nigerians described it as violation of rights of citizens and a prelude to dictatorship.
More than 39 million Nigerians have a Twitter account, according to NOI polls, a public opinion and research organization based in Nigeria.
Nigerian telecoms operators complied with the government directive on the ban Friday but Nigerians are navigating around the ban using VPN.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Monday morning directed all broadcasting stations in Nigeria to suspend the use of Twitter.
The NBC directive came just as the Federal Government summoned the ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union in Nigeria over their comments on the suspension of microblogging site, Twitter, in Nigeria.
The U.S. and the European Union had on Saturday expressed concern over Nigeria’s decision to ban Twitter.
“Banning systems of expression is not the answer,” the diplomatic missions of the EU, U.S., Britain, Canada and Ireland had said in a joint statement Saturday condemning the ban.
The foreign missions had said: “Precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“The path to a more secure Nigeria lies in more, not less, communication.”
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