ECOWAS court declares Twitter ban in Nigeria illegal, warns against repeat, #ECOWAS #court #declares #Twitter #ban #Nigeria #unlawful #warns OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
A court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ruled illegal the ban on Twitter in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The court also ordered the Nigerian government led by Buhari not to repeat this, said deputy director of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) Kolawole Oluwadare.
Nigeria banned Twitter in June 2021 after a tweet was deleted from Buhari’s account.
The ban lasted 7 months and was lifted in January 2022.
But in today’s ruling, July 14, the ECOWAS court declared that it has jurisdiction to hear the case and thus the case was admissible.
The court also ruled that suspending the operation of Twitter is illegal and contrary to the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which both are Nigerian. a state party.
“By suspending the activities of Twitter, the Buhari government is violating the rights of SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to enjoy freedom of expression, access to information and the media, as well as the right to a fair trial,” the court ruled.
The court also ordered the Buhari government to take the necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to implement the rights and freedoms, and to demand a non-repeat of the illegal ban on Twitter. to guarantee.
The court also ordered the Buhari administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and instructed the Deputy Chief Registrar to determine the costs accordingly.
Commenting on the verdict, Femi Falana, SAN SERAP attorney in the lawsuit, said: “We commend the ECOWAS court for its groundbreaking judgment in the SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria case in which the judges unanimously affirmed the human rights of community citizens to freedom. of expression and access to information. Although the Court issued a preliminary injunction last year that prevented the Federation Attorney General and the Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN, from prosecuting Nigerians who defied the Twitter ban, SERAP deserves special credit for prosecuting Nigerians. the matter to a logical conclusion.”