The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Adedayo Adeoye (retd.), has revealed that the Nigerian Government can’t win a case against all violators of the Twitter ban including the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; and the Founder and General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry Worldwide, Pastor William Kumuyi.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, had ordered the prosecution of Nigerians who make use of Twitter following the government’s ban of the platform on Friday evening.
A number of Nigerians, including Pastor Enoch Adebotye, Pastor Kumuyi, some present, and past government officials have defied the restriction order which has since been effected by telecommunications companies and internet service providers by switching to Virtual Private Network services.
JUST IN: We Can’t Arrest Adeboye, Kumuyi, Others – Police Tells Malami
However, in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the 72-year-old retired DIG described Malami’s decision to prosecute Nigerians using Twitter after the suspension as “unnecessary”.
Speaking further, Adeoye noted that the government would be unable to prosecute violators of the order due to the strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria.
He said: “Is it unnecessary? How many people will the government prosecute? The government can’t prosecute anybody and win.
“These are men of God, they cannot use it against the government, they use it to propagate the gospel. So, we should leave them and allow them to continue.
“If the government goes ahead to prosecute them (Adeboye and Kumuyi), their followers may react, and they are expected to react. Thousands of people will follow them to court and the court will have a problem in accommodating them. The judge and magistrate will then hide somewhere. The government should be quiet on the matter and allow it to die a natural death.”
#TwitterBan: FG Vow To Prosecute Adeboye, Kumuyi, El-Rufai, Others
DIG Adeoye further said the decision of the government to suspend Twitter was “ill-conceived because many things ought to have been taken into consideration before banning such an information platform. The reactions of the people and the international community including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union speak volume”.
He stressed, “I am not in support of anyone using Twitter to harm the government. I am not in support of that, the government should report to Twitter to better regulate the platform which I think Twitter has started doing. Twitter recently pulled down one or two tweets by (leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi) Kanu.”
“The government may not even say that they have unsuspended Twitter but when people start to use it, the whole matter will die a natural death,” he added.
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.