FG Insists Twitter Ban Indefinite

 The Federal Government on Monday  insisted that there’s no timeline to the lifting of the ban on the use of Twitter in Nigeria .

Briefing journalists after a closed door meeting with the Envoys, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said  while Nigeria believes in human rights and freedom of speech, and is gratified with the reassurance by the five countries to partner with it in achieving this.

He said: “We discovered that Twitter was being used to the wrong reasons to full insecurity in the country.Remember that security was one of the major items on the President’s campaign.Therefore, the government is doing all it can to keep to that promise, and to ensure that Nigeria remains in peace and security.”

 The minister also revealed that Twitter would be readmitted into the country if it assures to allow for responsible communication.

“The justification for the ban is to see to what extent social media can be used as forces of good and to stop criminality.While social media can be used to do good or bad, Twitter has being used to threaten the unity of Nigeria.,” Onyeama said

Speaking on behalf of the countries, US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said while the US has been Nigeria’s strongest partner on security, the federal government must however allow judicial processes to prevail.

She added also that the UK, US and the other three countries summoned insisted on media freedom in Nigeria.

The foreign envoys had in a joint statement  last week countries criticized Nigeria’s on Twitter which followed the expunging on an alleged genocidal tweet against the Southeast, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

 The foreign mission had warned Nigeria that “banning systems of expression is not the answer”.

They said that:”The path to a more secure Nigeria lies in more, not less, communication to accompany the concerted efforts of Nigeria’s citizens in fulsome dialogue toward unity, peace and prosperity.As Nigeria’s partners, we stand ready to assist in achieving these goals.”