By Ishaya Ibtrahim, News Editor
As Nigerians from all walks of life continue to condemn President Muhammadu Buhari for suspending indefinitely the operations of microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in the country, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to sue the federal government unless the decision was rescinded within 48 hours.
Condemning what it called the “illegal and unconstitutional suspension of Twitter’s Operations in Nigeria,” SERAP called on “the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately rescind the suspension within 48 hours or face legal action.”
The Federal Government announced Twitter’s suspension on Friday. The announcement was made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Adeyemi, ironically on Twitter.
But SERAP in a statement by its deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: “The suspension of Twitter in Nigeria is a blatant violation of Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information. The suspension has the character of collective punishment and is contrary to Nigeria’s international obligations. President Buhari must immediately rescind this unconstitutional suspension. We will see in court if the suspension is not rescinded within 48 hours.
“Suspending Twitter in Nigeria would deny Nigerians’ access to information, and disrupt the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern. It would also seriously undermine the ability of Nigerians to promote transparency and accountability in the country, and to participate in their own government.
“We call on the Nigerian authorities to guarantee the constitutionally and internationally recognized human rights of Nigerians including online. Deletion of President Buhari’s tweets should never be used as a pretext to suppress the civic space and undermine Nigerians’ fundamental human rights.”