The General Overseer
of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, says tweeting is
in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations universal declaration of
human rights.
Adeboye,
who holds a large following in Nigeria, made this known in a tweet on Monday,
adding that his church is present across the world.
The tweet
read, “The Redeemed Christian Church of God is domiciled in more than 170
nations and territories. The tweets here are in accordance with Article 19 of
the United Nations universal declaration of human rights.”
Article
19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights read, “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.”
The Federal Government
of Nigeria had last Friday suspended Twitter barely two days after the social
media platform deleted a tweet by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.), which many Nigerians believed was repugnant.
The
Buhari regime has come under fire from several rights groups across the world
for stifling free speech.
Despite
the ban, however, many Nigerians have been using Virtual Private Networks to
access Twitter, a move which has further infuriated the government even as the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said on Saturday that
those still tweeting would be prosecuted.
The PUNCH had earlier reported
that the National Broadcasting Commission which regulates broadcasting in
Nigeria on Monday ordered all television and radio stations to deactivate their
Twitter accounts and stop picking content from the platform.
The British, American and Canadian governments as well as the
European Union have jointly condemned the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.