The Federal Government on Monday says it will only lift its indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria only if the platform can be used “responsibly”.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said while speaking with journalists on Monday in Abuja after a meeting with envoys of US, UK, Canada, and the European Union, all of whom had condemned the “indefinite” suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
The federal government had on Friday indefinitely suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria, after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s civil war comment.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the envoys had said: “We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline. Banning systems of expression is not the answer.”
Onyeama said there is no definite timeline for the lifting of the suspension, but added: “The condition would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.”
“We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing; why we have taken this measure is to stop them from being used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities,” he said.
