Amnesty International has described Friday’s suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government as “unlawful.”
AI, the non-governmental international human rights organisation, condemned the action, demanding its immediate reversal.
Minister of information and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had announced Twitter’s “indefinite” suspension in Nigeria on Friday.
The minister said the action was necessitated by the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
Reacting, AI said the suspension is not compatible with Nigeria’s international obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
AI said in a statement posted on Twitter, “Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian government’s suspension of Twitter in Nigeria — a social media widely used by Nigerians to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
“We call on the #Nigerian authorities to immediately reverse the unlawful suspension and other plans to gag the media, repress the civic space, and undermine Nigerians’ human rights. #TwitterBan.
“This action is clearly inconsistent and incompatible with Nigeria’s international obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
Twitter’s suspension by the Buhari administration comes days after a post by the President on the 1967 civil war was deleted by the microblogging platform.