The ministry of foreign affairs is seeking the understanding of the diplomatic community over the federal government’s decision to ban twitter in Nigeria.
This appeal is a response to the joint statement by the US/UK/EU and Canada over the weekend expressing their displeasure on the twitter ban
The Minister met with a diplomatic delegation in Abuja and explained to them why The Federal Government decided to wield the big stick against the social microblogging site to brother the corporate existence of the country.
The talks between the delegation and Geofrey Oyenma was held behind closed doors, but the Minister told journalists that social media plays an important role globally but it must be used responsibly.
He says the decision to suspend the operations of Twitter was to maintain law and order and ensure that the social media platform is not used to incite a breakdown of law and order.
In response, the US Ambassador, Mary- Beth Leonards agrees that Nigeria is a strong partner with daunting security challenges that are not insurmountable
She says they believe in free access to information and are happy that government is in talks with twitter to resolve the issues
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama says there is no duration for the suspension of twitter but a condition to reconsider twitter will be if the platform can be used responsibly.