The Buhari-led administration has insisted that Nigerians including Pastor Adeboye and Kumuyi defying the federal government order on suspension of the micro-blogging site, Twitter will be Prosecuted, DAILY GIST reports.
Buhari’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed disclosed this in an interview with BBC Africa Focus.
When asked if RCCG’s Pastor Enoch Adeboye will be prosecuted for using Twitter, Mohammed emphasised that the persistent use of Twitter in Nigeria is undermining the country’s corporate existence.
He said; The government has suspended indefinitely, the operations of Twitter in Nigeria because of the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence and the government
“Also directed the National Broadcasting Commission to immediately commence the process of licencing all social media operations in Nigeria,”
“The attorney-general has made it clear that if anyone violates the regulation, that such person will be prosecuted. I think it is the right of the attorney-general to decide who to prosecute,” he added.
Pastor Adeboye had justified his refusal to comply with FG’s directive on the suspension with Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Article 19 of the UDHR states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Aside from Adeboye, the founder of Deeper Life Church, W.F. Kumuyi has also insisted that his church would not respect the federal government’s ban on Twitter because its Twitter handle reaches a global audience.
He tweeted: “In view of the Twitter ban in Nigeria, please note that the content shared on this handle is targeted at a global audience in more than five continents and over 100 nations and we share the content from any of these locations.”
Oyo state Governor, Seyi Makinde and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Former Ekiti Governor, Fayose, Reno Omokri, Fani Kayode had also published statements on Twitter despite the ban.
The federal government had last Friday suspended Twitter operation in the country barely two days after the social media platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari. The government has since then come under fire from many rights groups across the world for stifling free speech.
