THE Peoples Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M), on Monday said last Friday’s proscription of Twitter in Nigeria is an indication of the increasing authoritarian and tyrannical tactics of the Buhari government to obliterate the civic space in the country.
TPAP-M, in a press statement signed Prof Omotoye Olorode and Jaye Gaskia, entitled: “The Assault on the Right to Freedom of Expression of Nigerians and the Ban on Twitter in Nigeria,” said it received the news of the ban “with a sense of justified outrage the so-called ban on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria by Nigeria’s incompetent, and increasingly authoritarian and tyrannical government.”
While condemning the ban as an “unconscionable act of impunity,” TPAP-M said it totally rejects the ban as it is obviously an attempt to “criminalise engagement on and with the social media platform – Twitter.”
TPAP-M further states: “If this government has an issue with Twitter with respect to the taking down of President Buhari’s totally unpresidential post, then it should make its case and it is within its rights to boycott Twitter.
“But this act of generalising the grievance of the presidency as the grievance of Nigerians, and of taking the unprecedented step of preventing other citizens from accessing the platform by fiat is not only illegal and unconstitutional, it is also a further indication of the highly intolerant character of this regime, as well as manifestation of the increasing and seemingly unhinged tendency of this regime to obliterate the civic space.
“We call on all freedom living Nigerians to defy the ban on Twitter, not only as a reaffirmation of their rights to freedom of expression, but also as an act of defiance and civil disobedience to protect and preserve our fundamental human rights.
“Towards this end, we call for the immediate and unconstitutional release of all those arrested in connection with the unconstitutional ban; while we also express the readiness of the TPAP-M to offer legal services in defense of all those arrested in connection with this illegitimate act of government, just as we pledge our commitment to legally defend all those who may be subjected to state harassment on occasion of their act of defiance of the unconstitutional ban.
“The legal defense commission of TPAP-M has been put on notice and has been mobilised to respond to this illegitimate, unwarranted and outrageous assault on our collective dignity and rights.
“As Fidel Castro once said, ‘in a lawless society, it is illegal to be law abiding’.
“In this context, it will be demeaning of our humanity and dignity to obey, and not to defy an illegal act of the state.”
