#TwitterBan: AGF Orders The Prosecution of Nigerians Who Violate Twitter Ban
Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has ordered the prosecution of Nigerians who are violating the ban on Twitter.
The directive was announced in a statement issued by Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, media aide of Malami, on Saturday, June 5, 2021.
However, in the statement by Gwandu, the Attorney-General of the Federation is said to have ordered the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) to begin the process of prosecuting violators of the Federal Government’s suspension of Twitter.
The statement reads, “Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has ordered the prosecution of offenders of the federal government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria.
“The AGF directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at his office to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
“The DPPF is to liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”
Recall that the ban of the tech giant’s operation in the country was disclosed on Friday June 4, by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, via his spokesman Segun Adeyemi as a result of the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.To this effect too, telecommunication and network service providers in the country were added to block access to Twitter.
Twitter has equally stated that access to the free and open internet is an essential human right in modern society, while Nigerians have resorted to using Virtual Private Network (VPN), to access the social media platform.
