General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E.A Adeboye, alongside Deeper Life Ministry’s head, Pastor William Kumuyi, have both defended their continued usage of Twitter despite the government’s ban on the social networking service.
Adeboye said tweeting is in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
Using his official handle, @PastorEAAdeboye, the cleric who commands a huge following across the world, said: “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 on Human Rights reads: ‘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.’”
Kumuyi also said that his church has branches across 100 countries and five continents hence it can tweet from anywhere in the world.
Kumuyi made this known on his Twitter handle @pastorwf_kumuyi in reaction to the suspension of the social media platform by the Federal Government and a threat by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, that Nigerians still using Twitter would be prosecuted.
He tweeted: “In view of the Twitter ban in Nigeria, please note that the content shared on this handle is targeted at a global audience in more than five continents and over 100 nations and we share the content from any of these locations.”
Recall that the Federal Government had, last Friday, suspended Twitter barely two days after the social media platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari. However, it has since clarified that the suspension was in the favour of national interest and security.
The government has since been condemned by many rights groups across the world for stifling free speech.
The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) announced in a statement on Saturday that it had complied with the government directive. Despite the ban, millions of Nigerians have continued to access the platform through Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
