Following the deletion of President Muhammad Buhari's tweet(posted June 2, 2021)by Twitter, President Muhammad Buhari ordered the suspension Twitted activities in the Nigeria on June 5,2021.
He made a tweet that threatened to deal with separatist group, Indigenous People Of Biafra(IPOB): “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.” (Referring to 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War)
The Tweet was subsequently removed by Twitter, handing Buhari’s a twelve-hour suspension, the first time that his account had been issued with such a suspension.
Mobile networks were ordered to block access to the site and stating that misinformation on social media had become a problem in the country. The government further announced it intends to prosecute anyone who attempts to go after the ban and gain access to twitter. The minister of Information, Lai Mohammad in his reaction to the tweet deletion stated that “Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rules “
This leads us to the question of Fundamental Human Rights in Nigeria. Do they still exist? Are they being exercised? Does the government give room for it? The Nigerian government just deprived her citizens of their freedom of expression based on a personal issue which is not meant to be. Exactly where is this country heading to?Is fundamental human right a real thing or just an empty concept in this?
Although, there have been several condemnations of the act such as that of Amnesty International, Nigeria who tagged it as “unlawful detention, repression of civic space and undermining Nigerians’ human rights “,the government is still unmoved on their decision.
REAL 