Malami Orders Prosecution of Twitter Ban Violators

The attorney-general of the federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has ordered the prosecution of those violating the ban on Twitter.

The directive is in a statement issued by Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, media aide of Malami, on Saturday.

On Friday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter.

The statement, signed by Ministry spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, cited the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

According to the statement, the Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

Twitter’s suspension by the federal government came two days after a post by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 1967 civil war was deleted by the microblogging platform.

Nigerians have been able to use virtual private networks (VPN) to bypass the ban by the federal government.

Gwandu said Malami directed the office of the public prosecution of the federation (DPPF) to prosecute violators of the ban.

“Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has ordered the prosecution of offenders of the federal government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria,” he said.

“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.”