The federal government says Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, are vicariously responsible for the losses suffered by the country during the EndSARS protest.
Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this on Tuesday when he took part in “Politics Nationwide”, a Radio Nigeria phone show monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Mohammed alleged that Dorsey raised money through Bitcoins to sponsor the EndSARS protest while his platform, Twitter, was used to fuel the crisis.
He said that when he made these allegations earlier, Nigerians did not take him seriously until an online media group investigated and verified the facts.
The minister said the online post confirmed that Dorsey retweeted some of the posts from some of the coalitions supporting the EndSARS protest.
He said it was also confirmed that the founder of Twitter has started a fundraiser asking people to donate through Bitcoins.
The minister said Dorsey additionally launched Emoji to make the EndSARS protest visible on the microblogging site.
He said Dorsey also retweeted tweets from some foreign and local EndSARS supporters.
“If you ask people to donate money via bitcoin for EndSARS protesters, then you are vicariously liable regardless of the outcome of the protest.
“We have forgotten that EndSARS claimed lives including 37 police officers, six soldiers, 57 civilians while property worth billions of naira was destroyed.
“164 police vehicles and 134 police stations were razed, 265 private companies were looted while 243 public assets were looted.
“81 warehouses were looted while more than 200 brand new buses purchased by the Lagos state government were burned to the ground,” he said.
The minister said it was unfair to conclude that Twitter was suspended indefinitely because it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari‘s post.
He said the government was unambiguous that the action was taken because the platform was being used to promote the views of those who wanted to destabilize the country.
Mohammed added that Twitter systematically offers its platform to promote programs hostile to the existence of Nigerian businesses.
“Twitter has become a platform of choice for one separatist promoter in particular.
“The promoter has constantly used the platform to order his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and police, destroy INEC offices and destroy all symbols of Nigerian sovereignty.
“Every attempt to persuade Twitter to deny this separatist leader its platform has not been taken seriously,” he said.
The minister said the federal government had no apology for those unhappy with the suspension of Twitter operations in the country.
He said a country must exist in peace before people can exercise freedom of speech and fight for a source of income. (NAN)
