Maxwell Okpara, a public interest attorney, has pledged to sue Twitter for N20 billion, with the Department of State Services (DSS) as a party, following the agency’s tweet referring to him as a “overzealous and uninformed IPOB/ESN lawyer.”
The attorney added that he wrote to Twitter, also known as X, to express his displeasure that their platform may be used to malign someone’s reputation.
On Friday, Okpara spoke during his appearance on the Morning Show programme on Arise Television.
DSS Claims Emefiele May Be IPOB Member, Mocks Lawyer For Dragging Them To Court
Recall that Maxwell sued the DSS for keeping suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele in jail.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, the DSS referred to Okpara as a “charge-and-bail lawyer” when he brought contempt charges against the agency’s director-general, Yusuf Bichi, over Emefiele’s continued detention.
The secret police claimed in a since-deleted tweet that the IPOB/ESN lawyer leading the team of attorneys who filed the accusations against Bichi was “overzealous and uninformed.”
The attorney claimed that despite writing to Twitter and requesting a pitiful fee of N5 billion, the social media juggernaut didn’t reply to him within the allotted week.
When the court vacation is over, he continued, he would initiate a lawsuit against Twitter, with the DSS as a party.
UPDATE: Three Killed As Police Raids Alleged IPOB Camp In Enugu
He said, “Well, I don’t have much issue with the DSS because, when I saw it, I thought that their Twitter handle is being hijacked. But immediately after I confirmed it, I wrote a letter to the National Security Adviser, to the President, to the Senate President, to the Speaker, and to the NBA President. I have written to them, and a few of them have responded.
“I have also written to Twitter for allowing their platform, because if you allow your platform to be used to defame somebody’s character, I think I should concentrate on the person that allowed their platform to be used. Had it been that Twitter complied with their own rules, because they have a rule, that you don’t use their platform to defame somebody. So, they allowed it, and I have also written to them. And I just demanded a paltry fee of N5 billion. One week I gave them have expired. So, I have prepared my processes; I am just waiting for the vacation to be off. By first week of September, I will file and also join the DSS.
“So, on that particular issue, I might not talk much about it because Nigerians have responded to them. And I learnt that they pulled down that funny comment after nine days, but that will not exonerate them from being liable.
Police Raid IPOB/ESN Camp In Enugu, Kill Three, Recover Weapons
“This is something that I do for others. Is it my own that I will not do? I file for people whose rights are being violated, is it my own that I will not do? I will do it on my own and do it perfectly. Where they allow me to go to court, I will just make it N20 billion.”
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