A West African court has restrained the Nigerian government from “unlawfully” prosecuting people from using Twitter, while it is considering a legal action launched by activists and journalists seeking to reverse a ban on the social media giant.
Authorities in early June indefinitely suspended Twitter, two days after the platform removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists, which Twitter said violated its rules. The Nigerian attorney general further said those who defied the ban should be prosecuted, but did not provide any details as to which law would be invoked.
n response, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a local rights group, along with 176 other Nigerians, went to court to fight the ban.
On Tuesday, a statement describing the decision to suspend the hugely popular social media platform’s operations as an attempt to silence criticism of the government from SERAP quoted the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as saying it was restraining the government from acting against citizens or media outlets over the use of Twitter, pending a substantive ruling on the core issue.
“The court has listened very well to the objection,” SERAP said. “Any interference with Twitter is viewed as inference with human rights, and that will violate human rights,” it added.
The lawsuit’s applicants had argued that the Twitter suspension “escalated repression of human rights and unlawfully restricted the rights of Nigerians and other people to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom in the country”.
Applicants also urged the court to hold the Nigerian government liable for the violation of “their fundamental human right and for breaching its international obligations” by banning Twitter.
The government’s move prompted an immediate backlash among social media users and human rights activists, with #NigeriaTwitterBan and #KeepitOn trending on the platform as Nigerians used virtual private networks to access the site.
There was no immediate comment by the Nigerian government following Tuesday’s ruling.
Nigeria’s Information minister Lai Mohammed has previously said the suspension had nothing to do with Buhari’s tweet being deleted, but rather with “separatists inciting violence” online.
“Regulating social media is not about stifling press freedom. All we are talking about is the responsible use of these platforms,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube were still accessible.
In 2021, Nigeria ranked 120th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index.
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Court restrains Nigeria from prosecuting Twitter users: Activists
Monday, June 21, 2021
Emirates suspends Nigeria passenger flights until further notice
Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates has announced a suspension of flights to and from Nigeria from June 21, 2021.
“In line with government directives, passenger flights to and from Nigeria (Lagos and Abuja) are suspended with effect from 21 June 2021 until further notice,” it said in a statement.
“Customers travelling to and from Lagos and Abuja will not be accepted for travel. Customers who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days are not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE,” said the statement posted on its website.
The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai on Saturday eased travel rules for inbound passengers arriving from India, South Africa and Nigeria.
“We regret the inconvenience caused, and affected customers should contact their booking agent or Emirates call centre for rebooking. Emirates remains committed to Nigeria, and we look forward to resuming passenger services when conditions allow,” Emirates said.
Three students dead after Nigeria school kidnapping, says principal
Three children have died following a school kidnapping of 94 students and eight staff in northwest Nigeria this week, the establishment’s principal said on Sunday. read more
The army said in a statement it had rescued three teachers and eight students so far, killing one of the kidnappers.
There have been a series of kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria, with a sharp rise in abductions since late 2020 as the government struggles to maintain law and order amid a flagging economy.
Two girls and a boy were found dead, two with gunshot wounds in their legs, said Mustapha Yusuf, principal of the federal government college in the remote town of Birnin Yauri in northwest Nigeria's Kebbi state.
The kidnappers "have been taking cover under the students ... They are in the bush," he said, adding that bandits had used students' phones to call parents and demand a 60 million naira ($146,341) ransom.
By Garba Muhammad and Libby George
Friday, June 18, 2021
Video - Nigeria's Twitter ban leaves businesses in the lurch
Scores of small and medium-sized businesses across Africa's most populous nation and largest economy are reeling from the indefinite suspension of the social media site. The West African nation announced the suspension on June 4, days after the platform removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional separatists. Most telecommunications sites have since blocked access.
Policeman killed, more than 80 students abducted in attack on Nigerian school
Gunmen killed a police officer and kidnapped at least 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and a teacher said.
The attack is the third mass kidnapping in three weeks in northwest Nigeria, which have authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments.
Usman Aliyu, a teacher at the school, said the gunmen took more than 80 students, most of them girls.
"They killed one of the (police officers), broke through the gate and went straight to the students' classes," he told Reuters.
Kebbi State police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar, said the gunmen killed one officer during an exchange and also shot a student, who was receiving medical treatment.
Police late on Thursday had not released the number of students missing, and a spokesman for the Kebbi state governor said they were conducting a tally of the missing.
The attack took place at a federal government college in the remote town of Birnin Yauri. Abubakar said security forces were searching a nearby forest for the abducted students and teachers.
Atiku Aboki, a resident who went to the school shortly after the gunfire stopped, said he saw a scene of panic and confusion as people searched for their children.
"When we got there we saw students crying, teachers crying, everyone is sympathising with people," he said by telephone.
"Everyone was confused. Then my brother called me (to say) that his two children have not been seen and (we) don't know if they are among the kidnapped."
Bandits seeking ransom have kidnapped more than 800 Nigerian students from their schools since December in a series of raids. Some have been freed while others remain missing.
The raids in the northwestern region are separate from Islamist insurgencies centred on the northeast, where the Boko Haram militant group made global headlines in 2014 when it abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok.