The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said it will not arrest and prosecute violators of the Twitter suspension order because it is not their job to do so.
NCC made this claim after a statement on Saturday by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, directing the Director of Public Prosecution to liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, the NCC and other relevant government agencies “to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”
The FG had issued a ban on Twitter, insisting that those found making use of the social media platform, despite the ban will be punished.
But when asked on Monday on how far the NCC had gone in collaborating with the DPP to prosecute offenders, the Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, said it was not within the power of the commission to arrest or prosecute.
“The NCC is a regulator. It is not within our power to arrest or prosecute. Based on our statement, we limited ourselves based on the order given to us by the government, which was to instruct the operators to disconnect, which was what we did. So, the other aspects are not within our purview,” Adinde said.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians have been making use of Twitter despite the ban.
The General Overseers of the Redeemed Christian church of God (RCCG) and Deeper Life Bible Church, Kumuyi are some of the prominent Nigerians making use of the social media platform.
They said due to their audiences and followers beyond the country, they can’t obey the FG on the ban as they can tweet from any of their branches across the globe.
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