Twitter deletes President Buhari’s ‘threatening tweet’ for violating its rules

*The global tech giant has deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet in which he apparently threatened to treat Nigerians ‘misbehaving’ in ‘the language they understand’, saying the Nigerian leader violated the Twitter rules

*Buhari’s threat ‘is not the kind of words he should say as the President,’ says Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former CBN Deputy Governor and presidential candidate

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Following widespread condemnation by several Nigerians, and for violating the global tech giant’s rules, Twitter has deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet where he allegedly threatened to treat Nigerians “misbehaving” in “the language they understand.”

President Buhari reportedly issued the threatening statement after receiving security reports from the Chairman of the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in respect of the barrage of recent violent attacks on the Commission’s facilities across the country.

The President had tweeted that “many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria Civil War.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

However, Twitter deleted the message Wednesday, June 2, 2021, sequel to widespread condemnation by cross-sections of Nigerians.

“This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules,” the microblogging site said in place of the deleted tweet.

It is recalled that Twitter had meted out a similar treatment to former United States President Donald Trump in the thick of the police extra-judicial killing of Blackman George Floyd in the country in 2020.

After series of warning flags on his Twitter account, the company later Trump’s Twitter handle.

Meanwhile, President Buhari’s controversial tweet sparked reactions from many Nigerians, who expressed displeasure and cited his reference to the internecine 30-month long Nigerian Civil War as a threat to commit human rights violations in the country.

Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, a former presidential candidate, in his reaction to the development said Buhari’s threat “is not the kind of words he should say as the president.”

Moghalu reacted to Twitter’s action Wednesday during an interview on a Channels TV programme monitored in Lagos.

He stated: “I think (your) language matters when you are a leader and when you are facing many crises because that language can be interpreted in many ways.”

Moghalu, who accused Buhari of “bringing up evocations that are very unpleasant”, however, noted that the President should have assured Nigerians that his government will continue to work to ensure the safety of lives and property in the country.

ConsumerConnect reports Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister for Information and Culture, reacting to the development questioned Twitter’s rules in this regard.

The Minister who expressed this while addressing reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT, rather accused Twitter of conveniently ignoring what he described as other inciting tweets, but deleted that of President Buhari.

According to Mohammed, Twitter’s reaction to Buhari’s was suspect, and asked if Twitter, which cited a violation of its rules, had deleted violent tweets by Nnamdi Kano and other Twitter users during the last #EndSARS protests October 2020.

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