By Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS (Reuters) – Twitter removed on Wednesday a post by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari threatening punishment for regional secessionists blamed for attacks on government buildings.
The social media firm said Buhari's tweet, referring to the 1967-70 civil war in the southeastern Biafra region that killed 1 million people, violated its "abusive behaviour" policy leading to a 12-hour suspension of his account.
Buhari, who served in the army against the secessionists and was Nigeria's military ruler in the 1980s, tweeted on Tuesday that many people misbehaving today were too young to remember the deaths and destruction from the civil war.
"Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand," he warned in the tweet that was taken down.
Nigeria has seen a spate of arson attacks on electoral offices and police stations in recent weeks, especially in the southeast. Officers have also been killed.
SEPARATISTS
Authorities have blamed a banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and what police call its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network.
The IPOB has repeatedly denied involvement.
Buhari posted a series of tweets on Tuesday, the day after towns across the southeast were quiet and businesses shuttered since the IPOB urged people to commemorate the war dead.
Some social media users criticised Buhari's tweet before it was removed, accusing him of targeting Igbo people from the largest ethnic group in the southeast. IPOB is influential in the region and its efforts to revive sentiments over Biafra have prompted a crackdown from security agencies in recent years.
Nigeria's Information Minister Lai Mohammed was dismissive of Twitter's action, saying Buhari had every right to express dismay at violence by a banned organisation.
"Twitter may have its own rules, it's not the universal rule," he told reporters. "If Mr. President anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views."
(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Related Quotes
(Bloomberg) — Strategists from almost all the top Wall Street banks have come out this week with a nervous message about the U.S. stock market.The latest views hail from Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and echo earlier pronouncements from Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. While investment banks tend to be measured in their outlooks, there are common threads that underpin their predictions that the market is vulnerable. Valuations are at historical extremes,
THE TRADER A rocky week in the markets has traders, investors, and strategists at Defcon 2, peering into the horizon for the enemy—a stock market correction. But while there are some troubling signals, corrections—drops of 10% from recent highs—don’t just happen, just like bull markets don’t die of old age.
It’s no secret that Vanguard, Fidelity and Charles Schwab are three of the most popular and well-known brokerage firms. These financial institutions are also some of the largest, offering a wide range of products and services, from banking and investment … Continue reading → The post Vanguard vs. Fidelity vs. Schwab appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
Early in the coronavirus vaccine race, Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) seemed to have secured the third spot behind rivals Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Pfizer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in December. Let's take a closer look at what Novavax is doing now that may lead to victory down the road.
Get ready to make some defensive portfolio moves. At least, that’s the bottom line according to Raymond James strategist Tavis McCourt, who is taking a close look at the issues facing US investors as we put the Labor Day holiday behind us. The key point, according to McCourt, is the sheer number of possible impactors on the market. The COVID virus is still burning its way across the world, and new variants are creeping up. The US Congress still has not come to grips with passing a budget – and m
‘She has said that I make more, so I should cover the extras, and yet my monthly expenses are far less than hers.’
Fifty-five percent of the adult population in the U.S. is invested in stocks, according to Statista. Adding growth stocks to your portfolio, for instance, could grow your wealth exponentially over time, especially if these stocks are riding megatrends.
Living in Retirement: Our semi-retired columnist muses on why he's disinclined to begin spending down the savings he worked for three decades to build.
(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. shares suffered their steepest selloff in months on Friday after a federal judge ordered the company to change the way it operates its App Store, which would hurt the profitability of that business unit.The stock fell 3.3%, its biggest decline since May 4, erasing about $85 billion from the iPhone maker’s market capitalization. The size of the loss is bigger than all but 98 components of the S&P 500 Index.A federal judge granted an injunction sought by Epic Games Inc. w
With yields ranging from 1.8% to 9%, these income stocks will pad seniors' pockets and allow them to sleep easy at night.
The billionaire has never made a secret of his loathing for cryptocurrency.
Companies that generate more cash than they know what to do with often give it back to shareholders through dividends. Think of it as a reward just for being a committed investor in a given company. A dividend yield is the percentage of the stock's current share price that the dividend amounts to over the course of a year.
The positions of long-term Bitcoin investors have remained rock solid despite the sharp decline on 7 September. Furthermore, we continue to see a deepening supply shock as the amount of BTC on exchanges steadily decreases.
Sept. 11, 2001, changed the United States forever. Twenty years later, we look back on that devastating day.
Apple has been dealt a major blow over its App Store rules and ongoing fight with Fortnite developer Epic. The iPhone maker has been forced by a judge to stop banning other apps from offering other ways to pay for digital services, away from its own payment systems. The finding comes just days before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 13, and in the wake of a number of concessions seemingly aimed at reducing pressure from antitrust regulators.
(Bloomberg) — Michael Rubin was a freshman at Villanova University when he first displayed a knack for pulling off big deals. Using cash borrowed from a neighbor, he bought $200,000 of overstock sports equipment and soon resold it for a $75,000 profit. He’s been pouncing on opportunities ever since. Today, Rubin has a net worth of about $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Seizing on the disruptive power of internet-based shopping, he has turned sports merchandiser Fanatic
Income investors have an extra reason to be patient with their holdings since reinvested dividends can amplify their overall returns. In my view, Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS), and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) are attractive options that meet that criterion. As the world's third-largest retailer (behind Walmart and Amazon), Costco's dominant industry position gives it a lot of staying power.
Buying Dividend stocks can be a lucrative investment strategy. The list of companies that will pay you to hold them is vast, and here are three stocks that could be paying dividends for years to come. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) is a consumer staples company that sells various household products, including toothpaste, soap, pet food, cleaning products, and deodorant.
Last December, Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) gave Boeing (NYSE: BA) a big boost by placing an order for 75 additional 737 MAX 200 jets. Adding to Boeing shareholders' excitement, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary indicated that the European airline giant hoped to place a second big order (including the 737 MAX 10) within 12 to 18 months.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) recently catered, as modest yearly gains almost got wiped out in a single session. Meanwhile, downward pressure continues as the price looks to test the support around US$100 for the third time this year. We will examine the dividend as the stock dips down below the P/E of 30 since a 4.8% yield is certainly interesting at the right price.
