A lawyer, Dr Daniel Bwala, has said social media giant, Twitter, deleted a post by President Muhammadu Buhari, out of malice but failed to delete the inciting posts of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
Bwala, who spoke in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, accused Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Jack Dorsey, of supporting a process that could have led to insurrection in Nigeria since last October during the #EndSARS protest.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the President, on Tuesday, condemned the attacks on police stations, prisons and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, especially in the South-East, warning that those supporting insurrection and violence in the country would be shocked.
Buhari had tweeted, “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
The President’s tweet riled some persons who felt he was insensitive to have made an analogy of the civil war. His critics subsequently reported the tweet to Twitter and the microblogging site later deleted the post with a comment, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules”.
Commenting on the matter, Bwala, a member of the All Progressives Congress, argued that what the President said and what he tweeted was not against the people of the South-East but was in relation to criminal elements involved in the burning of government installations and the killings of uniformed men and private citizens of the country.
He said, “The President did not violate Twitter rules. Twitter deleted Buhari’s tweet out of malice. The founder or owner of Twitter is a known and interested party in Nigeria forgetting that you cannot be a jury and a judge in your own case.
“You will recall during the #EndSARS (protests), Jack Dorsey did not only support the #EndSARS protests but also retweeted the means of contributing to the funds used for the protests.
“That incident cannot be treated in isolation; it has never happened anywhere in the world where the owner of Twitter takes part in the protests of private citizens.
“So, tacitly or obviously, he had indicated expression of dissatisfaction towards the President.”
“Kanu has tweeted what has obviously created crisis that has led to so many loss of lives in Nigeria yet his tweets have not been removed. Do you need any further case to establish that the owner of Twitter is an interested party?” the lawyer asked.
Bwala also urged the Federal Government to launch an official complaint with the United States Congress to invite Twitter CEO to explain his recent role in the activities in Nigeria that are widely regarded as agitation for secession.
Twitter had in January banned former United States President, Donald Trump, for his inciting comments which led to the attack on the US Capitol.
Donald Trump,Jack Dorsey,Muhammadu Buhari,Nnamdi Kanu
