Lai: Twitter liable for loss of lives, property during #EndSARS protests

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, are liable for the losses the country suffered during the EndSARS protests.

Speaking on Tuesday when he featured on Radio Nigeria, Mohammed said Dorsey raised funds through Bitcoins to sponsor the EndSARS protests while his platform, Twitter, was used to fuel the crisis.

According to NAN, he said Nigerians did not taken him seriously when he made the allegations earlier, until investigations were carried out by an online media outfit.

The minister said the online publication confirmed that Dorsey retweeted some posts by coalitions supporting the EndSARS protests and further launched an emoji to make the protest visible on the microblogging site.

“If you ask people to donate money via bitcoins for EndSARS protesters then you are vicariously liable for whatever is the outcome of the protest,” he said.

“We have forgotten that EndSARS led to loss of lives, including 37 policemen, six soldiers, 57 civilians while property worth billions of naira were destroyed.

“164 police vehicles and 134 police stations were razed to the ground, 265 private corporate organisation were looted while 243 public property were looted.

“81 warehouses were looted while over 200 brand new buses bought by Lagos state government were burnt to ashes.”

Lai said it was unfair to conclude that Twitter was suspended because it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet.

He said the government took the action because the platform was being used to promote the views of those who wanted to destabilise the country.

“Twitter has become a platform of choice for a particular separatist promoter,” he said.

“The promoter consistently used the platform to direct his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and policemen, run down INEC offices and destroy all symbols of Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“Every attempt to persuade Twitter to deny its platform to this separatist leader was not taken serious.”

The minister said the federal government will not apologise to those unhappy over the suspension of the platform’s operations in the country.