- Nigerian government is expected to unban Twitter ‘soon’.
- Nigerian government Twitter ban widely condemned in the country.
- Freedom of speech deteriorating rapidly in Nigeria.
After drawing backlash among social media users and human rights activists for violations of freedom of expression and hurting the ways of doing business in Nigeria, the government of Africa’s most populous nation said that it ‘expects’ to lift its ban on Twitter, announced in June, in a “few days”.
The announcement raised hopes among Twitter users eager to return to the social media platform three months after the suspension took effect.
Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed told a post-cabinet media briefing today that the country’s government was aware of the anxiety Twitter ban had created among Nigerians.
“If the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell you that we’re just actually talking about a few, just a few more days now,” Mohammed said, without giving a time frame.
When pressed further, Mohammed said authorities and Twitter officials had to “dot the I’s and cross the T’s” before reaching a final agreement.
“It’s just going to be very, very soon, just take my word for that,” the minister said.
Nigerian government suspended Twitter in early June after the company removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened regional secessionists, which the social media giant said violated its rules. The Nigerian attorney general further said those who defied the ban should be prosecuted.
In response, dozens of Nigerians and a local rights group filed a lawsuit at a regional court seeking to lift the government’s ban on Twitter, describing the decision to suspend the hugely popular social media platform’s operations as an attempt to silence criticism.
