The Federal Government has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that it did not prohibit Nigerians from using social media platform, Twitter, adding that many Nigerians still use it every day.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Federal Government stated this in a counter-affidavit filed in response to an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
The government had on June 4, 2021, suspended Twitter barely two days after the social media platform deleted a tweet by the President Muhammadu Buhari. However, many Nigerians still acess Twitter by using Virtual Private Network.
Malami in a statement threatened to prosecute Nigerians still using the platform while the National Broadcasting Commission ordered all radio and television stations to stop using Twitter or picking content from the platform.
Rights lawyer, Effiong, subsequently sued the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Malami, and the Federal Government for suspending the social media platform.
In the fundamental human rights suit marked FHC/L/CS/542/2021, Effiong is seeking nine reliefs, including an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further suspending, deactivating or banning the operation and accessibility of Twitter or any other social media service in Nigeria because the act was in violation of his rights.
In an affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf of the Federal Government and the AGF, it was stated that the suspension of Twitter was not an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using Twitter despite the suspension.
The government told the court that Nigerians are still free to use other platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Tiktok and others.
