The Nigerian Federal Government on Wednesday reacted to Twitter’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet threatening the 1967 experience on Igbos agitating for Biafra, accusing the Social Media giant of double-standard, just as it raised issues with its role in the Biafran agitation.
President Buhari, speaking via his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, said after after a briefing from @inecnigeria on Tuesday on the attacks on their offices: “Whoever wants the destruction of the system will soon have the shock of their lives. We’ve given them enough time. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand. We are going to be very hard sooner than later.”
Following protests by Nigerians, Twitter deleted the tweet, stating: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.”
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that while Twitter “has conveniently ignored inciting tweets by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and his cohorts, displaying the same biases it did during the ENDSARS protest where government and private properties were being looted and set on fire, taming it human rights, it finds Buhari’s tweet offensive.”
The Minister said that Twitter’s role is suspect and Nigeria will not be fooled.
According to the federal government Spokesperson, “Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views. Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges. If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.
“Two, any organisation that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr. President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that? We are the ones guilty of double standards.
“I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria, and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed. By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.”
