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General News of Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Twitter ban: Onyeama advises envoys to utilize social media properly

Geoffrey Onyeama Geoffrey Onyeama

Following reactions on the Nigerian government ban on Twitter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama has stated that the use of social media has to be used responsibly by Nigerians.

Onyeama stated this to newsmen after the end of a closed door meeting in Abuja with ambassadors and representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and the EU.

“We had very useful discussions and we just restated the security concerns of Mr President and of all Nigerians and the very strong steps that needed to be taken to address security challenges in the country.

“They (the envoys) are all living here with us in Nigeria and have a fair view and experience of the security challenges we are facing.

“We discussed the role of social media as platforms which could be used to do good or bad.

“Unfortunately, the bad that social media is often used to commit have very dire consequences on human lives and in our case also, threatening the unity of the country.

Also, the Ministry released a statement debunking some misleading reports by several media outlets published on Monday, 7th June 2021, in which the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Geoffrey Onyeama was misquoted as giving conditions for lifting the Twitter suspension.

The statement signed by Ferdinand Nwonye, Spokesperson of the Ministry, stated, “The Honourable Minister after a meeting with some Heads of Diplomatic Missions resident in Nigeria was quoted to have said that “Twitter's operations in Nigeria will be restored only if the platform can be used responsibly”.

“This statement by the Honourable Minister has been quoted out of context.

“Contrary to the publications, the Honourable Minister was speaking generally about the responsibilities that go with freedom of speech, stating that platforms that have the power to instantly disseminate information among billions of people have the added responsibility to exercise that power responsibly.

“The Ministry wishes to state categorically that the Honourable Minister did not give any conditions regarding lifting the Twitter suspension.”