Paschal Njoku; Titilope Joseph

The ECOWAS court has declared unlawful, the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government and consequently ordered that such act should never happen again.

The judgment was on a suit by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, the ECOWAS court declared that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case, and that the case was therefore admissible.

Also, the court held that the act of suspending the operation of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with 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 both of which Nigeria is a state party.

“The Buhari administration in suspending the operations of Twitter violates the rights of SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to the enjoyment of freedom of expression, access to information and the media, as well as the right to fair hearing”, the court held.

In addition, the court ordered the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs accordingly.

The court equally ordered the Federal Government to take necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms, and to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban of Twitter.

It would be recalled that following the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

The government also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.

By the suit marked ECW/ CCJ/APP/23/21, filed before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, the plaintiffs sought: “An order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The plaintiffs contended that: “If this application is not urgently granted, the Federal Government will continue to arbitrarily suspend Twitter and threaten to impose criminal and other sanctions on Nigerians, telecommunication companies, media houses, broadcast stations and other people using Twitter in Nigeria, the perpetual order sought in this suit might be rendered nugatory.”

They further claimed that, “The suspension of Twitter is aimed at intimidating and stopping Nigerians from using Twitter and other social media platforms to assess government policies, expose corruption, and criticize acts of official impunity by the agents of the Federal Government.

“The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens and elected representatives is essential.

This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues without censor or restraints, and to inform public opinion.

The public also has a corresponding right to receive media output. “The arbitrary action by the Federal Government and its agents have negatively impacted millions of Nigerians who carry on their daily businesses and operational activities on Twitter.

The suspension has also impeded the freedom of expression of millions of Nigerians, who criticise and influence government policies through the micro blogging app.

“The suspension of Twitter is arbitrary, and there is no law in Nigeria today permitting the prosecution of people simply for peacefully exercising their human rights through Twitter and other social media platforms.

“The suspension and threat of prosecution by the Federal Government constitute a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations including under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.

“The suspension has seriously undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses, broadcast stations, and other people to freely carry out their professional duties.”

“A lot of Nigerians at home and abroad rely on Twitter coverage of topical issues of public interest to access impartial, objective and critical information about ideas and views on how the Nigerian government is performing its constitutional and international human rights obligations.”