Last month, Nigeria announced that it is suspending Twitter’s operation in the country after the company deleted one of president Buhari’s tweets for threatening violence against secessionists in the country’s southeast. Since then, many people have turned to VPN use to make it look like they are accessing Twitter from outside Nigeria.

Even the country’s Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, mistakenly revealed himself using VPN to access Twitter after the ‘indefinite suspension’.

But some people are beginning to wonder if the many VPNs available online – some of which are free – is safe for them to use.

Nigeria’s minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed, who proposed and announced the suspension, even gave face to this fear recently.

“My advice to anybody using VPN is to stop it because when you use VPN, it exposes your data, including your bank account,” the minister told a senatorial committee which is deliberating why the suspension isnecessary.

So, is there any truth to what Mr Mohammed is claiming?

Can VPN access my bank accounts?

A computer and communication expert, engineer Adebisi Akinsulire told the BBC “No, it is not possible”. At least not the way the minister puts it.

According to Akinsulire – who himself has installed a VPN before the ban – all information over a VPN are encrypted. That is, it requires lots of expertise and is almost impossible for anyone to have unauthorized access to other people’s information.

And so for VPN or even any app, to steal information from your bank account, it means you must have downloaded a fake app that resembles the correct one. Or, you accessed a website you are not supposed to.

“So for example, you connected to a free public WiFi to access your bank details, that can put your data at risk.

What can you do to protect yourself online?

• Don’t download any app from websites that are not authorized by the operating system you are using
• Don’t visit websites that are not secured
• Do your research about the software or apps you want to download to see their reputations
• If you can afford it, pay for software or apps you need because free apps sometimes come with viruses.
• Follow all the general guidelines from your Bank to protect your account
• Remember, most software companies that are known have their reputations to protect and so you should always download from known and reputable sources.

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Mohammed said this when he appeared on a Radio Nigeria call-in programme in Abuja today June 14.

“If you ask people to donate money via bitcoins for EndSARS protesters then you are vicariously liable for whatever is the outcome of the protests,” Mohammed said.

The Minister listed some of the losses incurred by the country saying “We have forgotten that EndSARS led to the loss of lives, including 37 policemen, six soldiers, 57 civilians while property worth billions of naira were destroyed.

“164 police vehicles and 134 police stations were razed to the ground, 265 private corporate organisation were looted while 243 public property were looted.

81 warehouses were looted while over 200 brand new buses bought by Lagos State Government were burnt to ashes’’ he said

The minister said it was unfair to conclude that the operation of Twitter was suspended indefinitely because it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s message.

Lai Mohammed alleged that the microblogging site has consistently provided its platform to secessionist groups bent at destroying the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of banned separatist group IPOB, often used Twitter to address his followers and spread his separatist agenda.

“Twitter has become a platform of choice for a particular separatist promoter. The promoter consistently used the platform to direct his loyalists to kill Nigerian soldiers and policemen, run down INEC offices and destroy all symbols of Nigeria’s sovereignty. Every attempt to persuade Twitter to deny its platform to this separatist leader was not taken serious’’ he said

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, disclosed this during a meeting with foreign envoys in Abuja today June 7. According to Onyeama, the micro-blogging site will be restored in Nigeria only if the platform can be used “responsibly”.

Last week, Nigeria abruptly suspended Twitter’s operations in the country after the company removed one of president Buhari’s post from its platform and subsequently suspended the President’s account for 12 hours.

Onyeama said although there is no definite timeline for when it will be restored, the micro-blogging site was suspended so as to stop it from being used as a platform for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality.

“The condition would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.

We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing. Why we have taken this measure is to stop them to be used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities” he said

At the meeting held in Abuja were the envoys of the US, UK, Canada and the European Union, all of whom had condemned the “indefinite” suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

Onyeama told newsmen after the meeting that the meeting was called for because the Federal government takes the comments of the envoys “very seriously”, hence the decision to discuss the matter with them in the “usual friendly way.” The Minister added that the Buhari administration has to keep an eye on its “main objective and legacy” which, according to him, is the security of lives and property.

“We want to use social media for good. Differences of opinion is not a problem; everybody will not think alike.

But lives matter; Nigerian lives matter and we have to do everything we can to preserve Nigerian lives. And when we feel our goals are threatened, actions need to be taken.”he said

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The G7 richest nations in the world led by the US and UK have agreed on a deal on taxationthst will see tech giants and multinational companies such as Amazon, Google, Facebook no longer able to shift profits to low-tax offshore havens.

The landmark deal agreed on Saturday, June 5, will enable them to squeeze more money out of the corporate giants.

Hundreds of billions of dollars could flow into the governments of the Group of Seven (G7) from this new deal after they agreed to back a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%.

Facebook in a statement said it expected it would have to pay more tax, in more countries, as a result of the deal.

“G7 finance ministers have reached a historic agreement to reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age,” British finance minister Rishi Sunak said after chairing the two-day meeting in London.

The meeting, hosted in central London, was the first time finance ministers have met face-to-face since the start of the pandemic.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that “significant, unprecedented commitment” would end what she called a race to the bottom on global taxation.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz said the deal was “bad news for tax havens around the world”.

According to Yellen, the G7 meeting was a return to multilateralism under Biden and a contrast to the approach of U.S. President Donald Trump, who alienated many U.S. allies.

“What I’ve seen during my time at this G7 is deep collaboration and a desire to coordinate and address a much broader range of global problems,” she said.

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Twitter might have underestimated the influence of Nigeria’s ban on its operations as India has now told the company it has one last chance to comply with the county’s IT rules, or face ‘unintended consequences’ according to a copy of an official letter seen by Reuters.

Last week, Twitter got into trouble with the Nigerian government after the company deleted one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s post from its platform.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed announced that the country has suspended Twitter’s operations indefinitely, and a day later, internet service providers were ordered to restrict access to Twitter’s domain.

Now India might be planning to follow Nigeria’s example, the country told Twitter to follow its IT rules, or face “unintended consequences”

The new rules – which were announced in February and which became effective at the end of last month – are aimed at regulating content on social media and making firms such as Facebook, its WhatsApp messenger and Twitter more accountable to legal requests.

They also require big social media companies to set up grievance redressal mechanisms and appoint new executives to coordinate with law enforcement.

India’s technology ministry wrote to Twitter on May 26 and May 28 on the new rules, but the company’s responses “neither address the clarifications sought by this ministry nor indicate full compliance with the Rules,” said the June 5 letter from the technology ministry to Twitter deputy general counsel Jim Baker.

The letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said that among other things, Twitter had yet to inform the ministry about its chief compliance officer, and its grievance officer and nodal contact person were not employees as mandated by rules.

It said such non-compliance would lead to “unintended consequences” including the possibility that Twitter could be held accountable for content posted on it, an exemption it currently largely enjoys.

It added, “However, as gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the Rules.”

Just like in Nigeria, activists have accused the Indian government of trying to gag social media after users took to the platform to organize huge farmer’s protests earlier this year. Many tweeps have also criticized Prime Minister Modi’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic on the platform.

Nigeria is estimated to have up to 40 million registered users on Twitter.

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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of ‘undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence’.

PRESS RELEASE

FG Suspends @Twitter Operations in Nigeria pic.twitter.com/7z5BQ0Mi3U

— Fed Min of Info & Cu (@FMICNigeria) June 4, 2021

On Wednesday, one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweets was deleted from Twitter over complaints that he had threatened genocide against secessionists in the country’s southeast.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War,” he tweeted.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” he wrote in what was taken as a warning of a fierce crackdown on rising violence across the country.

Twitter confirmed to Reuters that Buhari’s message was removed for violating its “abusive behavior” policy, also leading to a 12-hour suspension of his account.

Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed was dismissive of Twitter’s action.

“Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule,” he told reporters following the President’s suspension on Wednesday. “If Mr. President anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views.”

Nigeria has seen a spate of arson attacks on electoral offices and police stations in recent weeks, especially in the southeast. Police officers have also been killed.

Authorities have blamed the attacks on a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra and what the police call its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network. Both organizations has repeatedly denied involvement.

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Twitter has deleted a tweet in which Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari appear to threaten separatists among the people of Igbo-dominated South-East.

In a statement issued by the office of President Muhammadu Buhari, who previously led Nigeria as a military ruler in the early 1980s, said “a rude shock” awaits “those bent on destroying the country through promoting insurrection, and burning down critical national assets”.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through war, will treat them in the language they understand. We are going to be very hard sooner than later,” Buhari, who served in the army against the secessionists, was quoted as saying.

Many Nigerians interpreted Mr. Buhari’s tweet as a boast about the role he played alongside other Nigerian military officers in the Nigerian Civil War of 1966-70, during which over one million Igbo civilians were killed.

The president’s tweet followed widespread insecurity and attacks on public facilities blamed on a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and what police call its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network. But the IPOB has repeatedly denied involvement.

However, reacting to the development, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday accused Twitter, of double standards for deleting the post from its platform.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Mohammed said Twitter had conveniently ignored inciting tweets by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and others.

He said Twitter’s role is suspicious and Nigeria would not be fooled.

He said, “Twitter may have its own rules, they are not the universal rules. If Mr President, anywhere in the world, feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views.

“Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges. If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.

“Two, any organisation that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that?

“They are the ones guilty of double standards. I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed.

“By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.”

President Muhammadu Buhari is the most popular African leader on Twitter with over 4 million followers.

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