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#TwitterBan: ‘We are ready to negotiate with Nigerian government’ – Twitter says
Social media giant, Twitter has says it has informed the Nigerian government of its readiness to negotiate and each a consensus over the suspension of Twitter activities in the country.
The development was disclosed by Twitter in a statement on Friday.
“Today marks one week since Twitter was blocked in Nigeria. We have informed the Nigerian government that we are ready to meet for an open discussion to address mutual concerns and see the service restored.
We remain advocates for the free and #OpenInternet everywhere. #KeepitOn,” Twitter tweeted.
The Twitter statement corroborates with an earlier statement of the Federal government which said the management of the microblogging platform has reached out to the Federal Government for discussion over the recent suspension order slammed on it.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed disclosed this to State House correspondents after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
On June 4, the Nigerian government surprisingly announced a suspension of Twitter activities in the country.
The minister of information, announced the suspension in a statement issued that Friday.
According to the statement, the minister cited “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
The ban was subsequently followed by telecom operators in the country who deactivated twitter on their networks by 12 midnight on Saturday in Nigeria.
A lot of people have said the claim by the Federal government is only a cover and the reason the government suspended Twitter was because the social media platform deleted a tweet of the President.
In the tweet made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, June 1, the President made a reference to the civil war while warning assailants who attacked attacked police stations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to desist from such acts.
He said, “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. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
