Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 Nigerians have approached ECOWAS Court of Justice, Abuja, for an order restraining the Nigerian Government from implementing its recent suspension of Twitter.

Revealing the move via its Twitter handle on Tuesday, SERAP said the Federal Government’s suspension of Twitter was to stop Nigerians who use the platform to access government policies and criticise impunity by agents of the state.

“In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed today by Solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana SAN, we contend that ‘if this application is not urgently granted, the government will continue to arbitrarily suspend Twitter and threaten to impose punishment on Nigerians and other people,’” the tweet reads in part.

“The suit, read in part: ‘The suspension of Twitter is aimed at intimidating and stopping Nigerians from using Twitter to assess government policies, expose corruption, and criticize acts of official impunity by the agents of the Federal Government.’”

BREAKING: SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians have asked the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Abuja to order an injunction restraining the government of President Buhari from implementing unlawful suspension of Twitter in Nigeria and criminalising Nigerians and other people using Twitter.

— SERAP (@SERAPNigeria) June 8, 2021

Earlier, SERAP had called for the immediate withdrawal of a directive by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) that every broadcast medium in the country stopped the use of Twitter.

Kolawole Oluwdare, its Deputy Director, said the directive was “a blow to Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression, media freedom, media independence and diversity”.