Twitter Deletes Nigerian President Buhari’s ‘Abusive’ Civil War Tweet

Twitter has deleted a post by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari invoking the country’s civil war. The social media firm said Buhari’s tweet violated its “abusive behaviour” policy, leading to a 12-hour suspension of his account.
 
In a series of tweets sent out earlier on Wednesday, Buhari, who served in the army during the 1967-1970 civil war, said that regional secessionists did not remember the tragedy of the war, using language that Twitter flagged as “abusive.”
 
“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,” his now-deleted tweet said. “Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

In recent months, attacks targeting police stations, government buildings and electoral offices in south-east Nigeria, as well as the killing of a number of government and civil service officials, have been blamed on the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
 
Buhari’s office responded to Twitter’s action Tuesday by saying the president had a right to denounce violence.
 
“If Mr. President anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views,” Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed told reporters.
 
Buhari’s comments follow increased attacks, particularly on government buildings and police stations in southeastern Nigeria, in recent weeks. Authorities have blamed separatist groups the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the attacks.