President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday tweeted for the first time since the country reversed the ban it imposed on Twitter in June last year.
The Nigerian government had imposed a ban on the social media platform after it deleted its tweets about Buhari. The tweets, which referenced the Nigerian Civil War, threatened to deal with those behind insecurity in the “language they understand”. But the Federal Government said the ban was not linked to the deleted tweets.
Months after the Federal Government lifted the ban, which lasted till early January, Buhari took to the platform to share photos of himself observing the Eid-el-Fitr prayer with the Muslim faithful at the Mambila Barracks Parade Ground in Abuja.
In a series of tweets in commemoration of Eid-el-Fitr, the Nigerian leader, who was accompanied by his family and aides, spoke about the fight against insurgency.
While the fight has been tough and long, victory, Buhari said, is within reach.
“After a period of fasting and reflection, this year, we have cause to welcome the occasion in hope. The battle waged against terrorists who falsely masquerade under the name of Islam is approaching its conclusion,” he said.
“The fight has been long and hard. The final victory is within sight. Boko Haram and its offshoots’ final embers are now fading. Last month, the leader of ISWAP was killed in an airstrike. Since the New Year, thousands of fighters have surrendered.
“The territories they used to occupy are now seeing the return of those who were forced to flee their barbarity. Normality is finally beginning to return to the Northeast. It is a long process. Yet it is one we are, together, now embarking upon.
“With the designation of bandit groups as terrorists, the challenges of banditry & kidnapping are being tackled differently in the north-west and north-central where the latest military acquisitions and armed forces are being fanned out across the region to thwart acts of terror.”
The ban, according to Nigeria, was lifted after the social media firm agreed to meet its conditions for operations in the country.
“Major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities. They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic, and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to the loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart,” the presidency said in the wake of the ban.
The restriction of Twitter equally triggered condemnation from far and wide.
