A former Nigerian Presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, has instituted a $1 billion lawsuit against Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, at the Federal High Court Abuja, over his role in the #EndSARS protests which has led to violence across the country, resulting in the destruction of properties and loss of lives.
Jack had been accused of actively supporting the funding of the #EndSARS protests across the nation, as disclosed by Adamu Garba through a series of tweet posts on his official Twitter handle on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
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 to jointly pay him the sum of $1bn as damages.”
Garba in his tweet post said, “Here’s your motion of notice, a fine of $1 billion in favor of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as compensation for lost lives, properties and convenience, as a result of your active support for funding of #EndSARS protests after the issues is been attended to by the Government.
“Under a clear mark of gross abuse of privilege, you used your platform to instigate a protest that has now turned into the breakdown of law and order in Nigeria. You should publish a public apology to the Nigerian government and people for violating our sovereignty to peace and security.
“You have violated the international principles of nationhood and democracy by meddling into our local affairs, knowing fully well that these are capable of toppling the democratically elected government of the day and slowing us down from progress on our hard-earned democracy journey. I trust that the Federal High Court of Nigeria will serve you the motion accordingly.”
Backstory
It can be recalled that the former Presidential candidate had some time last week expressed his displeasure at Dorsey for showing support to the #EndSARS protesters even after the Federal Government had disbanded the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
In his tweet post, he said, “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 & order in our country. You should not be a moral and financial sponsor to this.
“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, it 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.”
Dear @jack,
Here’s your motion of notice, a fine of $1Bn dollars in favour of Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a compensation for lost of lives, properties & convenience as a result your active support for funding of #EndSARS after the issues is been attended to by the Government pic.twitter.com/aunph9OIY8
— AG II (@adamugarba) October 20, 2020