The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria has called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to reconsider his stance on the suspension of Twitter.

WUZUPNIGERIA reported that the Federal Government had announced the suspension of the microblogging platform in Nigeria after it deleted the president’s provocative Civil War tweet directed at insurrectionists in the South Eastern region.

A statement by the association titled ‘Backtrack from Twitter Ban’ signed by NPAN President, Kabiru A. Yusuf, on Saturday, identified that the president’s warning was directed towards “the insurrectionists in South-East Nigeria who have been vandalizing the symbols of the authority of the state.”

Yusuf said the association recognised that the “lawless ones have been committing arson against public assets like police stations, prisons and the courts; freeing prisoners from lawful custody, killing policemen and soldiers as well as harmless civilians. It is a state of fear in the South East of Nigeria as in almost all over the country where terrorists, Kidnappers, farmer/herder clashes have almost crippled Nigeria.

“The president warned that they may be ignorant of the cost of violence and may attract severe sanctions, reminiscent of the 30-month Nigerian civil war, if they persist in unrestrained violence and challenge to the authority of the state.”

The NPAN, however, argued that it was Buhari’s “threat of maximum state reprisal” that Twitter found objectionable in accordance with its stated policy thereby leading to the deletion of the provocative tweet.

“This is not the first time Twitter would sanction world leaders for infractions against its stated policy. It did so to President Donald Trump of the United States of America, to global aplomb when Trump instigated violence against the Capitol,” Yusuf said.

Speaking further, the newspaper owners also called on Twitter to ” correct itself” for sanctioning Buahri “while pampering an unrestrained Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who had used the same Twitter not just for serial hate speeches but for actually provoking and justifying violence in his separatist agitations.”

“Twitter may have been hasty in sanctioning President Buhari and shown an uneven application of its rules against separatist Kanu, its sincerity stands questioned,” the statement said.

Consequently, the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria declared that the suspension of Twitter’s operation by Nigerian is wrong and an overreaction.

According to the NPAN, such action would not win Nigeria friends as closure of public space limits public discourse and democratic advancement.

“It is a futile exercise in any case, as other platforms are more likely to suspect Nigeria’s intentions towards democratic tenets and act adversarial towards Nigeria.

“Twitter is a global platform for public communication that has expanded the frontiers of Free Speech and Press Freedom. It is a platform for business that has brought relief to Nigeria’s youthful population who have prospered by its operation.

“The NPAN believes Twitter as a business is not infallible and can be influenced through high-level engagement, to be a more responsive, liberal platform of public good and not a cynical champion of suspicious causes.

“There should be a compromise: Nigeria needs friends and not enemies at this critical juncture of her existence. She should not play into the hands of the enemies who are relentless is seeking to destroy and ostracise her. Banning Twitter is regressive and should be rescinded in favour of dialogue,” the statement read.