Malami with President Buhari, Twitter was banned in Nigeria 5 days ago

Malami with President Buhari, Twitter was banned in Nigeria 5 days ago

Nigerians drag attorney general for flouting his own rules using VPN to access Twitter

Nigerians are mocking their attorney general and justice minister, Abubakar Malami for supposedly using their Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access Twitter.

After the Twitter suspension on Friday, Malami threatened to prosecute Nigerians who use VPN to access Twitter.

But Malami has said he had deactivated his Twitter account eliciting reactions that he may have used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to do that as the site is inaccessible in the country.

A VPN connection makes it appear as if the user is accessing the internet from another country, and has been a way to get round such bans.

The attorney general has shared a screenshot on his Facebook page showing he had deactivated his Twitter account

Social media users questioned how he accessed Twitter, without using VPN asking that he prosecutes himself as well.

“This is evidence that you logged into Twitter today via VPN to deactivate your account, which is punishable under your unlawful law. Let us see how you will prosecute others without throwing yourself in jail,” Roy Ekwueme commented.

The president’s wife, Aisha Buhari, has also deactivated her Twitter account.

On 7 June the National Broadcasting Commission ordered all television and radio stations to deactivate their Twitter accounts.

The government suspended Twitter on Friday days after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet was removed for breaching the site’s rules.

 

Editorial Chief, Nigerian Bureau

Kings UBA is a Nigerian journalist and writer. I have reported for major local and international news organisations. I write satire. In 2017, I started contributing stories primarily to Discover Africa News Network. I can be reached on editorkingsuba@gmail.com. I currently manage Discover Africa News social media handles