Lai Mohammed Faults Twitter For Deleting Buhari’s Tweet

Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has faulted Twitter for deleting President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet which contained threats of violence against citizens.

Twitter had said that Buhari violated its rules and warned that such violations could lead to “permanent suspension” from the microblogging platform.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the Nigerian president, in a tweet on Tuesday, threatened to give the “civil war” treatment to persons behind attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure.

Twitter, however, deemed the tweet as being in violation of its policy against threat of violence against individuals or group of people, hence it was deleted.

But reacting, Mohammed accused the tech giant of double standards, adding that “they (Twitter) are not the universal rules”.

The minister said, “Twitter may have its own rules, they are not the universal rules. 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 organization is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.

“Two, any organization 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?

“They are the ones guilty of double standards. I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organization, 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 organization has been proscribed.

“By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.”