“The suspension of Twitter in Nigeria is taking place against the background of repression of the civic space and harassment of media houses, and journalists who are targeted simply for performing their professional duty.”
“The suspension of Twitter has seriously undermined transparency and accountability in government. The lack of transparency undermines the rule of law and Nigerians’ ability to participate in their own government.”
“Lack of transparency and accountability, and the absence of the rule of law in Nigeria have contributed hugely to denying Nigerians their fundamental human rights. People have been targeted simply for using Twitter and peacefully exercising their fundamental human rights.”
SERAP therefore urged the Commonwealth to:
Publicly condemn the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and put pressure on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the unlawful suspension;
Urge the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to respect freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom, as well as promote transparency and accountability, and the rule of law;
Urge the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the threat to prosecute Nigerians simply for peacefully exercising their rights through Twitter
Establish a mechanism to visit Nigeria to monitor and report on violations of Nigerians’ right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom, absence of transparency and accountability, and persistent disregard for the rule of law, and to get to the root of the facts and circumstances of such abuses, with a view to ensuring full accountability. Such mechanism would be the right response from the Commonwealth to protect the integrity of the institutions and ensure compliance by members to the Commonwealth values as enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and declarations