Nigeria’s Attorney General Abubakar Malami has warned Nigerians that if they are caught using Twitter they will be prosecuted and sent to jail.
However, Malami could not say what law would be used, just that “the alleged violators would get to know that in court.”
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration indefinitely suspended Twitter in the country on Friday after a tweet by the president was removed from the site for violating its rules by advocating violence against the Igbo ethnic group.
The government accused Twitter of undermining the “corporate existence” of Nigeria and meddling in the country’s internal affairs.
The ban on Twitter is seen as part of a broader plan of Buhari’s administration to restrict access to social media which has proved to be an effective platform for holding leaders accountable.
The ban has led to outrage and been widely condemned within Nigeria.
The umbrella body of Nigerian lawyers, the Nigerian Bar Association, has threatened to sue the Nigerian government over the ban, saying it threatens the right of Nigerians to freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions.
Since the ban on Twitter, many Nigerians have been using Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to remain active on the site.
