News around Africa - June 23, 2021

ECOWAS Bars Nigeria from Persecuting Twitter Users After Ban

June 23, 2021

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The ECOWAS Court ruling on Tuesday states that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government can’t punish or do “anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute” Twitter users, according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. The non-governmental organisation has filed a lawsuit against the Twitter ban and prosecution of its users in Nigeria, with a court set for July 6.

The Nigerian government formally banned Twitter from functioning in the country on June 5, 2021, after the social media site deleted tweets by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari warning the South-Eastern people of the country.

The tweet read “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.”.