Buhari back on Twitter, says ‘evil people’ frustrating FG

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, tweeted for the first time since the country reversed the ban it imposed on the microblogging site, Twitter, in June last year.

The Star recalls that the Federal Government, on June 4, 2021, imposed a ban on the social media platform barely two days after it deleted the tweets of President 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.

Many Nigerians, however, bypassed the Twitter suspension by using Virtual Private Network (VPN).

After talks with the microblogging site which lasted months, the Federal Government lifted the ban on January 13, 2022.

Months after the restriction was lifted, President Buhari, on Monday, took to the platform to share pictures 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 President, who was accompanied by his family and aides, spoke about the fight against insurgency in the country.

Buhari, who said his administration has been getting impressive reports of the special operations to curb crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the South-South, lamented that while the Federal Government was making progress to clean the environment, some “evil people” were busy causing more pollution and destruction.

He tweeted: “I would like to send my greetings and very best wishes to Muslims in Nigeria and across the world, on the successful end of Ramadan, and the commemoration of Eid-el-Fitr.

“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.

“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,” President Buhari stated.

Below are some of the President’s tweets:

The Star