Nigerians have deviced ways to circumvent the federal government’s ban on global microblogging giant, Twitter as they have opted for the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to circumvent the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government.

It would be recalled that on Friday, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, announced the suspension of the social media platform’s operation in Nigeria.

The minister based the action on the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

However, many have expressed dissatisfaction with the development, highlighting the benefits of the microblogging site.

Below are some reactions.

Meanwhile, human rights group, Amnesty International, has demanded an immediate reversal of the suspension of the operations of Twitter.

On Friday, Minister of Information, announced that the Federal Government had suspended the microblogging site over the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The action of the government had generated different reactions.

In a statement, Amnesty International said the suspension is not compatible with Nigeria’s international obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian government’s suspension of Twitter in Nigeria — a social media widely used by Nigerians to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information.”

“We call on the #Nigerian authorities to immediately reverse the unlawful suspension and other plans to gag the media, repress the civic space, and undermine Nigerians’ human rights.

“This action is clearly inconsistent and incompatible with Nigeria’s international obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

The Federal Government took the action days after Twitter yanked off a tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari that it said violated its rules.

The platform had flagged one of Buhari’s tweets on the 1967 civil war.

…As NBA Vows To Challenge Decision

The Embassy of Sweden in Abuja has reacted to the Twitter ban by the Nigerian government.

The reaction came on Friday night through the embassy’s Twitter account.

“Nigerians have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of expression and a right of information. This must be respected. Safeguarding free, independent media and civic spaces for democratic voices is an important part of Sweden’s drive for democracy,” the Swedish Embassy stated.

The Twitter ban was announced on Friday afternoon through the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Information and Culture.

Similarly, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),Olumide Akpata, equally reacted to the ban by noting that Nigeria operates in a constitutional democracy and therefore everything must be done according to law.

Akpata stated that part of the implication of the ban was on the right of Nigerians to “freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions through that medium”.

He also noted that the licensing of all OTT and social media operations by the Nigerian Communications Commission was another attempt to stifle freedom of speech and shrink civic space.

According to him; “The Nigerian Bar Association finds no constitutional or legal authority to support the peremptory action of the Federal Government to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria,” Akpata said.

“Beyond the dent on our constitutional democracy, at a time when the Nigerian economy is unarguably struggling the impact of arbitrary decisions such as this on investor confidence is better imagined.”

He added that if the ban is not reversed, the NBA will challenge it in court in the interest of the public and democracy in the country.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had yet to instruct the telecommunication service providers in the country to block Twitter’s URL in furtherance of the move to enforce the indefinite suspension of the micro-blogging site.

URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator, is an address of a website and it specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it.

The NCC usually writes service providers to block URLs of websites unwanted by the Federal Government as was done in the case of online news outlet, Peoples Gazette, in January.

We gathered that as of 6pm on Friday, the service providers in the country, such as MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9 Mobile, had yet to receive any letter from the NCC in relation to Twitter suspension.

When contacted, a Director with the NCC told this newsmen that there had been no communication from the Federal Government on the suspension of Twitter.

The director, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authourised to talk, however, said the suspension would not be effective because it could be circumvented through Virtual Private Network otherwise known as VPN.

According to him , “We, at the NCC, are waiting for a directive from the Federal Government to ask service providers to block the URL of Twitter. However, as of 6pm, we have received no such directive. But how do they even intend to achieve that now that there is VPN?

“Look at it this way – blocking the URL is like putting an anti-virus into the system. And the VPN is like an anti-virus. Nigeria does not have a central Internet point and as such people will exploit the vulnerability inherent in each of the various networks to get to Twitter.”

Also, an official with one of the service providers told revealed that they had not received any directive from the NCC to block Twitter.

He, however, said the VPN could easily be used in circumventing the ban by the Federal Government.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “The ban has cost implications as the networks will need to invest in procuring these firewalls and continuously upgrade them as people will always try to circumvent them.”

Also, another high-ranking player in the sector who pleaded anonymity said the telcos were duty-bound to obey whatever they are given by the FG on the Twitter ban.

He said, “I don’t want to comment on it because it is politically related. However, the telcos have to do what the FG wants. Their licences were issued by the FG through the NCC and there is a clause there they must obey whatever the government asks them to do. They have to obey.

“The operational licence was issued to operate as a telecom company in Nigeria. And they are expected to abide by the laws and regulations of the country. If the government has passed a policy or directive that I don’t want XYZ to be making use of the Nigerian server space, the telcos have to carry it out. Their licences were not issued by the US, and Nigeria has its sovereignty, its own legal environment that has a lot to do with the government. The telcos will have to abide by what the FG wants.”

Meanwhile, Spectranet, ipNX Nigeria Limited, Swift Networks Ltd., Vezeti Service LTD, Cyberspace Network Limited, Mobitel Limited, Smile Nigeria, ITClick Solutions Limited, and Netcom Africa are some of the Internet Service Providers in the nation.

Nigeria had about 33 million active social media users as of January 2021. WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in the country, with over 90 million users according to Statista. According to Statista, about 61.4 per cent of Nigerian social media users use Twitter, 86.2 per cent use Facebook, 81.6 per cent use YouTube, 73.1 per cent use Instagram, and 67.2 per cent use Facebook Messenger,

Catholic Church Bans Father Mbaka From Commenting on Partisan Politics

The Enugu Catholic Diocese has banned the controversial Spiritual Director Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, from commenting on partisan politics.

This, is in a bid to protect its image and insulate the church from political controversies.

The church announced the ban in a letter his Bishop, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga, conveyed to him after his penance.

The letter also announced the conversion of the adoration ministry to chaplaincy to allow the diocese direct control of Adoration Ministry.

By this development, Mbaka will no longer solely oversee the activities of the ministry as its spiritual director, with a source explaining that making the ministry a chaplaincy, brings it under the control of the Enugu Diocese and gives the Bishop the power to appoint a chaplain to oversee its operations.

The Bishop further statef that he can appoint any ministerial officer “to assist the chaplains to oversee the pastoral activities of the ministry.”

According to him, ”There shall be no partisan politics either by way of active engagement or by prophetic naming of candidates for position of power.”

These directives were announced following Mbaka’s resumption to church activities of the ministry which was suspended following his one-month private retreat.

Following the desecration of the Catholic Cathedral Church allegedly by Mbaka’s supporters, he had announced the immediate shutdown of all activities in the ministry till June 10, 2021.

Recall that Mbaka’s supporters had attacked the Bishop’s Court and diocesan cathedral, destroying valuables, property and desecrating the Holy Altar of the church.

But Mbaka in a release he personally signed said he would be embarking on private prayer retreat for penance and atonement.

Fr. Mbaka thereafter apologised to the Catholic Church in Enugu and his Bishop for the desecration of the church.

The Federal Government has suspended the operations of microblogging giant, Twitter in Nigeria.

This was contained a press release signed by Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant to the President on Media the suspension is with immediate effect.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday,citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

The Police Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday confirmed the appointment of Usman Baba as Inspector General of Police.

Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, made this public at the end of the meeting which lasted for over an hour.

According to him, the Acting Inspector General of Police got a unanimous confirmation from all stakeholders at the meeting.

It would be recalled that President Buhari had on April 6th 2021, approved the appointment of Usman Baba as Acting Inspector General of Police.

Following his confirmation, President Buhari directed the Police Boss to redouble efforts at ensuring peace and security nationwide.

Baba was a Deputy Inspector General of Police before his promotion.

Details later…