Reverse Twitter ban immediately, USAID issues warning to FG

The United States of America has again called on President Muhammadu Buhari to reconsider and cancel the Twitter ban in Nigeria.

This message was delivered by a top American official and senior diplomat, who is currently serving as the administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power.

Power, in a tweet on her verified handle on Wednesday, wrote, “There are nearly 40 million Twitter users in #Nigeria, and the country is home to Africa’s largest tech hub.

“This suspension is nothing more than state-sanctioned denial of free speech and should be reversed immediately. #KeepItOn.”

Recollect that the Federal Government via the office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had banned Twitter.

Subsequently, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, had banned anyone accessing the social media site through any other means, although he logged on to Twitter to deactivate his account on Tuesday.

Notable Nigerians had continued to Tweet, stating that the ban is contrary to free speech and fundamental human rights.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Projects and 176 Concerned Nigerians had on Tuesday filed a suit against the FG in the Economic Community of West African States, appealing to them to rescind the Twitter ban.

All this was because President Buhari had said that many of those misbehaving in the nation were too young and did not witness the horror of Nigeria’s 1967-70 war, stating that he would “treat them in the language they would understand.”