In a letter addressed to the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the group stated that it will challenge the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice if the ban on Twitter is not repealed within 48 hours.
A group, One Love Foundation has threatened to sue the Federal Government of Nigeria over the indefinite suspension placed on the microblogging platform, Twitter.
In a letter addressed to the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the group stated that it will challenge the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice if the ban on Twitter is not repealed within 48 hours.
The letter was signed by Ihensekhien Samuel Junior for Patrick Elholor, the President of the group.
It also stated that when the strike action embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) is over, the group will sue the Federal Government at the Federal High Court.
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The letter reads, “Our group, One Love Foundation is an NGO committed to the promotion, defence of human rights, equality of all citizens and justice for every citizen all over the world.
”We are this evening in receipt of the announcement by the federal government of Nigeria over the banning from Nigeria airspace, of the worldwide microblogging site with acronym name as www.twitter.com.
“Consequently, this act by the FG of Nigeria without any legal and reasonable reasons/justification is not only illegal, unconstitutional but tend to drive fear in the eyes of ordinary Nigerians, that their enshrined rights to impart and receive information, are not only being threatened but look as if they are being taken away from them by this FG ban of Twitter in this regard.
“We, as a group hereby politely request the FG of Nigeria, to subsequently in good faith withdraw forthwith the ban of Twitter in this regard, as the economic, socio and other benefits of www. twitter.com are so numerous to Nigerians in this regard and hence this ban is not only untenable but is done in bad faith at this point in time.
“However if these our demands as stated above are not adhered to within 48 hours, failure of which, we shall be constrained to challenge this action of FG ban of www. twitter.com at the ECOWAS court and when the JUSUN strike is over at the Federal High court also, as we hope the wise counsel will prevail in this matter.”
SaharaReporters recalls that Mohammed had announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter in a statement signed by his Special Assistant Segun Adeyemi, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
The Minister said the Federal Government had also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.
The development comes after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet where he threatened to treat Nigerians “misbehaving” in “the language they understand”.