ECOWAS temporarily restrains Nigerian government from prosecuting Twitter users
The Community Court of Justice, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has issued an order restraining President Muhammadu Buhari or any member of his administration from prosecuting any Nigerian for using Twitter.
After Nigerian minister of information, had announced the “indefinite” suspension of Twitter’s operations in the country on 4 June, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and 176 Nigerian Twitter users have filed a suit with ECOWAS claiming that issuing of such order without underlying court decision is in violation of human rights.
The ECOWAS has now granted an interim injunction ‘restraining the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and its agents from unlawfully imposing sanctions or doing anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute Twitter and/or any other social media service provider(s), media houses, radio and television broadcast stations, the Plaintiffs and other Nigerians who are Twitter users, pending the hearing and determination of this suit.’
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