According to a statement issued by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Nigerians who have bypassed the Twitter ban and are still tweeting via a VPN are likely to face prosecution.
Parts of the statement read, “Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest, the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria,” adding, “Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”
While a quick visit to the Department of Justice website shows absolutely no report of the AGF’s directive, foreign news journalist and Twitter user, @Naomi_sb claims that upon speaking with the AGF spokesperson, “…any individual or company violating the government’s suspension of twitter would be prosecuted if it was proved within reasonable doubt that they tweeted.”
She also claimed that “when asked if presidential spokesperson Bashir Ahmad and Oyo state governor, NCDC etc would be prosecuted [for tweeting after the suspension was announced], Dr Gwandu said it would need to be established beyond reasonable doubt that they had tweeted.”
