President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to prevail on the military to halt its ongoing monitoring of Nigerians on the Internet. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), joined by another civic group, Concerned Nigerians (CN) in a recent demand for the president to respect the freedom of Nigerians on all social media platforms. “Use your good offi ces and leadership position to instruct the military authorities to immediately end any monitoring of activities of Nigerians on the social media, and to ensure that military operations comply with Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the country’s obligations under international human rights law,” SERAP said in an open letter to Buhari dated August 25.
Th e defence spokesperson, John Enenche, who hinted at the operation in an interview with Channels Television, did not elaborate on the type of speeches that military deemed as constituting “hate” or “antigovernment.” Enenche, a major general, put Nigerians on notice about the tracking programme two days after Buhari himself expressed concerns about emerging tone on social media. Th e administration’s stance on did not go down well with many Nigerians, and rights groups have roundly criticised any attempts to curb freedom of expression.
“Monitoring Nigerians on social media would criminalise their freedom and the activity of journalists that are critical of the government and censor the media from reporting on sensitive and critical information that is relevant to the public interest but controversial to the government,” SERAP said in the statement signed by its deputy director, Timothy Adewale. Adewale said rather than implementing repressive policies, the Buhari administration should develop “proactive and holistic policies that would ensure that technology was used to increase freedom and security of Nigerians.
