Buhari Shamefully Returns To Twitter, Claims Boko Haram, Bandits, Others Downgraded Despite Continued Killings, Abductions

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday tweeted for the first time after Twitter operations were formally restored in Nigeria.

The President in his first post greeted Muslims in Nigeria and across the world, on the successful end of Ramadan, and the commemoration of Eid-el-Fitr.

The Buhari-led government had on June 4, 2021, announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

Telecommunications companies started blocking access to Twitter on June 5, after they received a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission to block access to Twitter.

The suspension by the Nigerian government came days after a post by Buhari on the 1967 civil war was deleted by the microblogging platform.

The government cited the persistent use of the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence as the reason for the suspension.

According to the NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool, Nigeria’s economy lost N104.02m ($250,600) every hour to the ban on Twitter as of December 2021.

The government, however, lifted the suspension on January 13, 2022.

In his first post after his return to the microblogging site, Buhari claimed his administration has been able to stem insecurity in the war-ravaged North-East Nigeria.

“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 posted.

“The fight has been long and hard. 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 administration is equally getting impressive reports of the special operations to curb crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the South-South, with millions of illegally refined products being impounded and illegal refineries destroyed.

“While we are making progress cleaning the environment, some evil people are busy causing more pollution and destruction.

In response to the disturbing rise in criminal attacks targeting law enforcement and public facilities in the South East, concerted military operations to rid the region of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) elements have, in recent weeks, led to the overrunning of IPOB/ESN bases, the seizure of weapons and the arrest of a large number of suspects.

“I have recently approved the establishment of a Naval Base in Oguta, Imo State, among other interventions to strengthen the security of lives, property and critical national infrastructure in the region.

“The reinvigoration of the war against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is also showing positive results as shown by the arrest of over 12,300 offenders including seven drug barons; the conviction of 1,400, counseling and rehabilitation of about 8,000 drug users.”

Following the ban, groups including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, had dragged the government to the ECOWAS court.

The President’s tweet comes a few days after one of the victims of the Kaduna-Abuja train attack gave birth at the kidnappers’ den.

The victim was said to be eight months pregnant in March 2022 when she was abducted alongside others when bandits attacked the train.