Twitter Ban: Nigerians Applaud Adeboye For Canvassing Free Speech In Tweet

Pastor Enoch Adeboye

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, has defended his continued usage of the microblogging platform suspended in Nigeria, Twitter.

The cleric wrote on his Twitter handle on Monday, “The Redeemed Christian Church of God is domiciled in more than 170 Nations & Territories. The tweets here are in accordance to Article 19 of the UN universal declaration of Human Rights."

Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

Nigerian government banned Twitter last Friday after the App deleted a controversial comment made by President Muhammadu Buhari, in which he made reference to the Nigerian Civil War, which many Nigerians described as distasteful. 

This was followed by an order by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami directing the immediate prosecution of offenders of the Federal Government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria.

While many have expressed fear over the likely punishment, Pastor Adeboye's tweet on Monday raised the hopes of many Nigerians who applauded the cleric for speaking up. 

However, others requested that he should call the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo and ask him to prevail on the Federal government to revert the Twitter ban.