Police arrest Twitter user by use of VPN app for tweeting in Oyo
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a twitter user, Tomiwa Oni, for alleged using Twitter with the help of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) on his phone in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had on June 4, 2021 announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had cited ‘the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence’ as the reason for the suspension’.
Also, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) declared that any Nigerian still making use of the banned platform would be arrested and prosecuted by the government.
However, a few days later, Malami denied he ever ordered the arrest and prosecution of those using Twitter despite the ban.
He also denied that the government would go after religious leaders for tweeting.
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But since the ban, many Nigerians have been using Twitter with the help of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), with some even sharing details online so that more people could access the microblogging site.
According to Tomiwa Oni, a Nigerian Twitter user, narrated how Nigeria police arrested him in Ibadan for using Twitter with the help of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
He said” I was arrested today and spent half the day in the police station because I still have Twitter and vpn on my phone.
“This country is excited, and it’s funny enough that another officer was on Twitter checking out TL smh, and yes, we had to pay to be released.
“So yeah this happened around Oluyole Ibadan and for those asking why I allowed them check my phone I actually called another police to talk to the one that arrested me then after the call he tapped the screen immediately so the phone won’t lock and decided to go through my phone”, he wrote on his Twitter handle.
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