Twitter Suspension: Lawyer Sues Lai Mohammed, Malami As Courts Resume

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has sued the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the Attorney-General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the Federal Government for
suspending social media platform, Twitter.

In the originating motion marked FHC/L/CS/542/2021, Effiong is
seeking nine reliefs including an order of perpetual injunction
restraining the respondents from further suspending, deactivating
or banning the operation and accessibility of Twitter or any other
social media service in Nigeria.

Effiong asked the court to declare as illegal the threat of
criminal prosecution issued by Malami and Mohammed against
Nigerians who ‘violate’ the suspension or ban of Twitter, despite
the absence of any written law.

The activist asked the court to declare that the act of the
respondents in “suspending the operation and accessibility of
Twitter in Nigeria without any written law that is reasonably
justifiable in a democratic society enabling the said suspension is
unconstitutional, unjustifiable, undemocratic, arbitrary, null and
void and amounts to a violation of the right of the applicant and
other Nigerians to use Twitter for expression, reception of
information and impartation of ideas and is therefore contrary to
Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
1999 (as amended) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9 L.F.N.
2004. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”

In his supporting affidavit, Effiong, who is also the National
Legal Adviser of the African Action Congress and Co-Convener of the
Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, said he was an active Twitter
user since 2021 and currently has 45,500 Followers and follows 13,
600 accounts on the platform including dozens of accounts of
broadcast stations in the country.

The activist stated that as a public affairs commentator, he
uses Twitter to express his views on the failure, inadequacies and
performance of the government at all level, including the Federal
Government of Nigeria and its agencies.

Effiong recalled that on June 1, 2021, the President,
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who is a Twitter user,
tweeted a series of tweets in a thread in response to the
agitations in the South East on his verified Twitter account with
the handle @MBuhari with millions of followers.

Buhari’s tweet was considered offensive by many Nigerians who
flagged it and reported it to Twitter.

The lawyer said Twitter subsequently deleted the President’s
comment, a move that led to the suspension of Twitter days
later.

Effiong said it was a known fact that every Twitter user had
agreed to abide by the rules of the platform before being allowed
to use it.

He said the decision of the respondents to suspend Twitter have
gravely “infringed on my freedom of expression and that of
broadcast stations and other Nigerian citizens who depend and rely
daily on Twitter for information, expression and impartation of
ideas. This has caused me emotional trauma and distress and limited
my capacity to connect with the global community.”

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has sued the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the Attorney-General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the Federal Government for
suspending social media platform, Twitter.

In the originating motion marked FHC/L/CS/542/2021, Effiong is
seeking nine reliefs including an order of perpetual injunction
restraining the respondents from further suspending, deactivating
or banning the operation and accessibility of Twitter or any other
social media service in Nigeria.

Effiong asked the court to declare as illegal the threat of
criminal prosecution issued by Malami and Mohammed against
Nigerians who ‘violate’ the suspension or ban of Twitter, despite
the absence of any written law.

The activist asked the court to declare that the act of the
respondents in “suspending the operation and accessibility of
Twitter in Nigeria without any written law that is reasonably
justifiable in a democratic society enabling the said suspension is
unconstitutional, unjustifiable, undemocratic, arbitrary, null and
void and amounts to a violation of the right of the applicant and
other Nigerians to use Twitter for expression, reception of
information and impartation of ideas and is therefore contrary to
Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
1999 (as amended) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9 L.F.N.
2004. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”

In his supporting affidavit, Effiong, who is also the National
Legal Adviser of the African Action Congress and Co-Convener of the
Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, said he was an active Twitter
user since 2021 and currently has 45,500 Followers and follows 13,
600 accounts on the platform including dozens of accounts of
broadcast stations in the country.

The activist stated that as a public affairs commentator, he
uses Twitter to express his views on the failure, inadequacies and
performance of the government at all level, including the Federal
Government of Nigeria and its agencies.

Effiong recalled that on June 1, 2021, the President,
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who is a Twitter user,
tweeted a series of tweets in a thread in response to the
agitations in the South East on his verified Twitter account with
the handle @MBuhari with millions of followers.

Buhari’s tweet was considered offensive by many Nigerians who
flagged it and reported it to Twitter.

The lawyer said Twitter subsequently deleted the President’s
comment, a move that led to the suspension of Twitter days
later.

Effiong said it was a known fact that every Twitter user had
agreed to abide by the rules of the platform before being allowed
to use it.

He said the decision of the respondents to suspend Twitter have
gravely “infringed on my freedom of expression and that of
broadcast stations and other Nigerian citizens who depend and rely
daily on Twitter for information, expression and impartation of
ideas. This has caused me emotional trauma and distress and limited
my capacity to connect with the global community.”