Nigeria accuses Twitter of double standards, says it overlooked tweets from secessionists

The Nigerian government on May 2 expressed doubts about Twitter’s mission in the country and accused the social media firm of double standards and supporting the secessionists in the west African nation. According to ANI, the Information and Cultural Minister Lai Mohammed lashed out on Twitter after it deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari who issued a warning to troublemakers in Nigeria. Mohammed called Twitter’s mission in Nigeria “suspicious” and added that the US technology company has an agenda. 

"We have a country to rule, and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter's mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda. The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious," 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 concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views,” he added. 

Further, the Nigerian minister said that the social media firm had overlooked the tweets of leading secessionists in the nation. He went on to say that when people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during End SARS, a decentralised social movement, then for Twitter it was about the right to protest. “But when a similar thing happened in the US, it became insurrection,” Mohammed said. 

Nigerian President’s deleted tweet 

His comments came after Twitter deleted Buhari’s post following criticisms from some netizens. In his tweet, the President had made a reference to the country’s 30-month civil war in 1967-1970. He had warned those who wanted the “government to fail” to desist from fomenting trouble. 

"Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria civil war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand," Buhari tweeted on Tuesday night.

The President made the remarks after a meeting with officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who reported to him about attacks on the body’s facilities. According to Africa News, a series of armed attacks on government facilities and security installations in the southeast have claimed the lives of at least 126 people. The officials have blamed the violence on the indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), a separatist movement campaigning for the independence of the Biafra people. Moreover, in the North and central regions of the country, attacks by armed groups and kidnappings targeting schoolchildren have also increased, with voices criticising Buhari’s dismal security record growing louder. 

(With inputs from ANI)