Twitter Deletes Buhari’s ‘In The Language They Understand’ Tweet

Twitter has deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet where he threatened to treat Nigerians “misbehaving” in “the language they understand”.

Buhari made the threat after receiving security reports from the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on the series of recent attacks on INEC facilities nationwide.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria Civil War.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari tweeted on Tuesday.

Twitter deleted the message on Wednesday, following widespread condemnation.

“This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules,” the microblogging site said in place of the deleted tweet.

‘Not The Kind Of Word’

The tweet by President Buhari sparked reactions from many Nigerians who expressed displeasure and cited his reference to the civil war as a threat to commit human rights violations.

Former presidential candidate Kingsley Moghalu in his reaction said Buhari’s threat “is not the kind of word he should say as the president.”

Mogahlu reacted on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast programme Sunrise Daily.

“I think (your) language matters when you are a leader and when you are facing many crises because that language can be interpreted in many ways,” Moghalu said during a television interview.

Moghalu accused Buhari of “bringing up evocations that are very unpleasant” but said the president should have assured Nigerians that his government will continue to work to ensure the safety of lives and properties.

Lai Mohammed Questions Twitter

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed in reaction to this questioned Twitter’s rules.

Addressing journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, Lai Mohammed accused Twitter of conveniently ignoring other inciting tweets and deleting that of President Buhari

He asked if Twitter which cited a violation of its rules had deleted violent tweets by Nnamdi Kano and other Twitter users during the #EndSars protest.