Nigerians still using Twitter will know the law they’re violating when charged to court – Malami

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Saturday ordered the prosecution of Nigerians defying the government’s ban on Twitter, but did not state the specific law that is being violated.

Asked which law the AGF intends to invoke to prosecute alleged offenders, his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, told Premium Times that “the alleged violators would get to know in court”.

“We will invite journalists at the time of prosecution, and they will know which laws are used to prosecute. The point is Twitter has been banned. Anybody should not try to use Twitter.

“At the time we are gathering them and assembling them in court, they will get to know which law they are violating,” Mr Gwandu told our reporter after he issued the statement announcing Mr Malami’s prosecution order on Saturday.

When pressed further on the need to tell Nigerians which particular law they are violating by continuing using Twitter, Mr Gwandu said it was the “the federal government laws”.

“Tell Nigerians that the government has banned Twitter and anybody who uses it will be penalised. The point is they violated the ban. They are violating the federal government laws,” he said.

The government through the information minister, Lai Mohammed, had on Friday, announced an “indefinite suspension” of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

This came two days after Twitter took down a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which the microblogging site said violated its rules and many Nigerians viewed as a veiled threat of violence against the Igbo ethnic group.

The ban has been widely condemned by many within and outside Nigeria.

-Premium Times