Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has slammed Twitter, as he criticised the Canadian government over the truckers protest against COVID-19 restrictions in the North American country.
Barely a month after the Nigerian government lifted the restriction on Twitter usage following the ban that lasted 222 days, the minister accused the micro-blogging site of a double standard, as he cited its failure to put the ongoing protests in Canada to check.
It would be recalled that the Twitter ban was effected in Nigeria in the heat of the nationwide protests against police brutality (#EndSARS), a development that attracted global attention, including Canada’s.
Likening the #EndSARS protests to the truckers protest in Canada, Mohammed accused Twitter and the West of double standards in the way they perceive the violent protesters in their region and those in Nigeria.
While noting that Twitter has suspended the truckers account, in which they received over $10 million donations, while the Ontario government has frozen access to the millions of dollars donated through online fundraising platform GiveSendGo to the protesters, the minister lamented how “the Canadian protesters, who have blockaded roads and resorted to inconveniencing others, have been branded as terrorists or insurrectionists and subjected to a number of clampdowns by government and private organisations.”
“Recall, gentlemen, that during the EndSARS protest, which culminated in the blockage of public roads and massive destruction of government and private property, Canada was one of the countries that spoke out in support of the protesters.
“Recall also that Twitter actively supported the EndSars protesters and even helped them to raise fund while GoFundMe was used to raise funds for the protests,” Mohammed added.
The minister, however, clarified that he didn’t intend to gloat over the unrest in Canada, but found it pertinent to bring it to people’s consciousness that the country’s leadership and Twitter were not fair to Nigeria in the heat of the #EndSARS protests.
