The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has ordered the immediate prosecution of Nigerians accessing microblogging platform, Twitter, through a virtual private network (VPN).
The directive by Nigeria’s Minister of Justice is coming despite both local and international condemnation of the Federal Government’s action.
The development follows the Friday indefinite suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.
There have been reports of Nigerian users of the platform bypassing the restriction posed by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with a VPN since the wee hours of Saturday when the suspension order took effect.
The announcement Is contained in a statement issued by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on Saturday, June 5, 2021, with the spokesperson of the Ministry, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, saying that the AGF directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation to swing into immediate action and commence prosecution of the violators of the ban.
The statement from the Ministry partly reads:
Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of opetations of Twitter in Nigeria.
Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.
Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu
(Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice)
5th June, 2021.
Details later….
