For backing #EndSARS, Garba asks Twitter CEO to pay Nigeria $1 billion

Former presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Garba, has asked Twitter and its Founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jack Dorsey, to pay Nigeria $1 billion compensation for “actively supporting” the #EndSARS protest.

Garba, who filed a motion on notice at a Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, alleged that Twitter’s involvement in the protest was aimed at toppling the country’s democratic government.

The politician said Dorsey’s call on individuals to support the cause amounts to “gross abuse of privilege”.

He accused the San Francisco-based digital media organisation and its founder of giving “gullible Nigerians” the opportunity to escalate the protest, leading to untold hardship as well as the destruction of life and property.

Ironically, Garba used Twitter to publicise the content of his petition.

Dorsey had, via a tweet that has been taken down, posted: “Donate via #Bitcoin to help #EndSARS.” The tweet, last Wednesday, caused a stir on social media.

While the protesters considered it a major motivation, Garba warned the techie to steer clear of Nigeria’s politics and threatened court action.

“Dear @jack, it’ll do you a lot more good if you stay away from Nigerian politics. You should know that the so-called #EndSARS protest has transformed into political agitation, capable of breaking law and order in our country.

“You should not be a moral and financial sponsor to this. I can see you are even sharing a link for people to donate money for this protest, an event capable of escalating our already-overstretched security management. If this protest continues to evolve into disorder (hopefully not), we will meet in court,” Garba tweeted.

Yesterday, he made good his threat. Beyond the compensation, he charged the Federal Government to take further action against the company and ensure that it opens an office in Nigeria and subjects itself to relevant domestic laws.

Garba’s petition, expectedly, attracted a backlash. Videos of his convoy being booed have been trending across social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Many users of the platforms, however, advised the petitioner to engage President Buhari on how to rescue the country from total collapse rather than looking for a scapegoat.