FG Condemns Twitter For Deleting Buhari’s Controversial ‘Civil War’ Post

The federal government of Nigeria has declared that social media giant, Twitter has not been fair to the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made the submission on Wednesday in his reaction to the decision of the social media platform to delete President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial tweet.

Naija News recalls the micro-blogging site deleted President Buhari’s tweet wherein he spoke about the civil war experience.

The President in a tweet on Tuesday threatened to deal with those bent on destroying Nigeria through insurrection.

In a post on Twitter, the president wrote, “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.”

However, the social media platform deleted the message on Wednesday, following widespread condemnation of the tweet.

According to a statement, Twitter said the post violated its rules, hence the need to delete the post.

But reacting to the action taken by Twitter, Mohammed said Twitter has not been fair in its dealings as it allows tweets by IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu and others during the #EndSARS protest on its platform but is quick to delete Buhari’s tweet.

Mohammed said “Twitter may have its own rules; it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views. Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges. If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.

“Two, any organisation that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr. President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that? We are the ones guilty of double standards.

“I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria, and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed. By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has said the federal government has been magnanimous in respecting the rule of law and enforcing fundamental human rights.

During an interview on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme on Tuesday, Malami accused some people are taking advantage of the federal government’s respect for human rights and rule of law to commit insurgency.

Malami warned that the Buhari administration will not sit back and watch those persons take up arms to render the government “helpless”.