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Nigerian Government suspends Twitter Operation in Nigeria

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The Federal Government has suspended the operations of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking service, in Nigeria.

Lai Mohammed, Minister of information, announced the suspension in a statement issued on Friday.

The suspension of the social networking service was also shared on the Twitter handle of the federal ministry of information.

According to the statement, the minister cited “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

Twitter had temporarily suspended Nigeria’s president from the site over complaints that he had threatened genocide against agitators in the South East of Nigeria.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday warned insurrectionists that they were in for a “rude shock” — then tweeted a message referring to the 1967-70 civil war that killed 1 million people.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War,” he tweeted.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” he wrote in what was taken as a warning of a fierce crackdown on rising violence in the southeast.

Twitter confirmed to Reuters that Buhari’s message was removed for violating its “abusive behavior” policy, also leading to a 12-hour suspension of his account.

Read statement below….

PRESS RELEASE

FG Suspends Twitter’s Operations in Nigeria

The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of
the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday,
citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are
capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the
process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

Segun Adeyemi
Special Assistant To The President (Media)
Office of the Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
4 June 2021

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