The federal government has accused the Canadian government and Twitter of double standard in the way they classify violent protesters in Nigeria. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the accusation at a media briefing yesterday in his hometown, Oro, Kwara State.
He was reacting to the unfolding events in Canada where truckers were protesting over COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.
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He said Canada and Twitter, which had called the hoodlums who destroyed public and private property in Nigeria during the EndSARS as “peaceful protesters”, turned around to tag similar protesters in their own countries as insurrectionists and terrorists.
“The Canadian protesters, who have blockaded roads and resorted to inconveniencing others, have been branded as terrorists or insurrectionists and subjected to a number of clampdown by government and private organisations. “The crowd-funding company GoFundMe has shut down the campaign to raise funds for the truckers, after they raised more than $10m.
“Twitter has suspended the truckers account while the Ontario government has frozen access to millions of dollars donated through online fundraising platform GiveSendGo to the protesters.
“Recall, gentlemen, that during the EndSars protest, which culminated in the blockade of public roads and massive destruction of government and private property, Canada was one of the countries that spoke out in support of the protesters.
“Recall also that Twitter actively supported the EndSars protesters and even helped them to raise fund while GoFundMe was used to raise funds for the protests. “These are the same entities that are now rushing to distance themselves from the protesters in Canada and even denying them the use of their platforms,” he said. (NAN)
