Lai Mohammed lashes out at Twitter for deleting Buhari’s tweet

 

The Federal Government has condemned the reaction of social media outfit, Twitter, to President Muhammadu Buhari’s series of tweets, via his verified Twitter handle @mbuhari.

President Buhari had on Tuesday via his Twitter handle warned that `rude shock awaits’ those unpatriotic elements promoting insurrection and burning critical national assets across the country.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the president stated via his twitter page.

Twitter, however, deleted the tweet, stating: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.”

Reacting to the development, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, accused Twitter of double standard, saying tech giant had deliberately ignored inciting tweets by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and his cohorts.

The minister also accused twitter of displaying the same biases it did during the #ENDSARS protest where government and private property were looted and set on fire, taming its human rights, while “it finds Buhari’s tweet offensive”.

READ: Twitter deletes Buhari’s tweet for violating rule

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According to him, Twitter’s role is suspect and Nigeria will not be fooled.

He said: “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.”

The minister spoke on the sideline of his media briefing with State House Correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday.