ENDSARS: APC stalwart sues Twitter, Dorsey for $1bn

A member of the ruling APC has sued Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, for $1bn.

The allegation:  the resultant violence that has marred the #EndSARS protests rocking the nation, and how Dorsey supported the agitation.

Adamu Garba had earlier warned Dorsey against supporting #ENDSARS protest in Nigeria, saying he’s meddling in Nigeria politics.

“It will do you a lot more good if you stay away from Nigerian Politics. You should know that the so-called #EndSARS protest have transformed into political agitation, capable of breaking law & order in our country. You should not be a moral and financial sponsor to this,” Garba tweeted days ago.

“This is Nigeria; most of the demands initially presented were attended to by the responsible authorities. SARS no longer exists in this country. Your support for a disbanded entity was a needless interference. We cannot allow killings again in Nigeria in the name of protests.

“I understand that this may play well to your business, you have more content, more people and more activity on your platform, but to us is about life, peace and security of our dear country, we cannot allow you to be part of the people sponsoring disorder. We need peace and prosperity.

“I can see you are even sharing a link for people to donate money for this protest, an event capable of escalation beyond our already overstretched security management. If this protest continues to evolve into disorder (hopefully not) as a Nigerian citizen, we’ll meet in court.”

Garba thus filed a fundamental human rights suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The motion on notice was brought pursuant to order II Rules 1, 2, 3 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009 and Sections 34(1), 35(1) and 41(1) and 43 of the 1999 Constitution.

Others joined in the suit include the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Communications Commission.

Garba is seeking an “order directing the 8th (Dorsey) and 9th (Twitter) respondents jointly to pay him the sum of $1bn as damages.”

The suit is coming after the US presidential candidates President Donald Trump and Joe Biden expressed worried about how the social media giants, including Facebook and U-tube, are permitting misinformation, and why they should no longer  be shielded from liability.

Both candidates have promised to review the Section 230 of the US Federal Communication Commission Act that protects internet business from individual liabilities so they can grow.

How Garba will serve the defendants is however an issue.