Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and criminalization of Nigerians still using Twitter.
This war started after the deletion of Buhari’s ‘civil war’ tweet by the micro blogging platform, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed last week Friday announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
The government has also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.
In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, SERAP and the concerned Nigerians are seeking an order of interim injunction restraining the federal government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone, including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
In the suit filed by solicitor to SERAP, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), the plaintiffs said that the suspension has really undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses and broadcast stations to freely carry out their professional duties.
Credit: EONS Intelligence
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