A public interest lawyer, Maxwell Okpara, has vowed to file a N20 billion suit against Twitter to be joined by the Department of State Services, DSS, for the service’s tweet describing him as an “overzealous and uninformed IPOB/ESN lawyer.”
The lawyer also said he has written to Twitter, known as X, for allowing their platform to be used to defame somebody’s character.
Okpara spoke on Friday when he appeared on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.
Recall that Maxwell took the DSS to court for the continuous detention of Godwin Emefiele, the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It was reported that the DSS made a remark describing Okpara as a “charge-and-bail lawyer” after he filed contempt charges against its Director-General, Yusuf Bichi, over Emefiele’s continued detention.
The secret police, in a now deleted posts on its Twitter handle, said the lawyers who filed the charges against Bichi were led by an “overzealous and uninformed IPOB/ESN lawyer.”
However, the lawyer said he had written to Twitter demanding a paltry fee of N5 billion but the social media giant didn’t respond to him within the one week given to it.
He added that he has prepared his processes to file a suit against Twitter to be joined by the DSS when the court vacation is over.
He said, “Well, I don’t have much issue with the DSS because, when I saw it, I thought that their Twitter handle is being hijacked. But immediately after I confirmed it, I wrote a letter to the National Security Adviser, to the President, to the Senate President, to the Speaker, and to the NBA President. I have written to them, and a few of them have responded.
“I have also written to Twitter for allowing their platform, because if you allow your platform to be used to defame somebody’s character, I think I should concentrate on the person that allowed their platform to be used. Had it been that Twitter complied with their own rules, because they have a rule, that you don’t use their platform to defame somebody. So, they allowed it, and I have also written to them. And I just demanded a paltry fee of N5 billion. One week I gave them have expired. So, I have prepared my processes; I am just waiting for the vacation to be off. By first week of September, I will file and also join the DSS.
“So, on that particular issue, I might not talk much about it because Nigerians have responded to them. And I learnt that they pulled down that funny comment after nine days, but that will not exonerate them from being liable.
“This is something that I do for others. Is it my own that I will not do? I file for people whose rights are being violated, is it my own that I will not do? I will do it on my own and do it perfectly. Where they allow me to go to court, I will just make it N20 billion.”
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