The Online Publishers of Nigeria (OPAN), Nigeria’s premier association of new media and online new publishers, has urged the Federal Government to immediately reverse the ban on Twitter operations in the country and stop infringing on the rights of citizens to freely express themselves.

In a statement by Austyn Ogannah, President and Daniel Elombah, General Secretary, OPAN said “the reasons adduced for the suspension or ban of Twitter have remained unconvincing because the federal government failed to exhaust other channels of communication with the social media giant.

“The action of the Federal Government amounts to killing an ant with a sledge hammer, and has given Nigeria a very bad image in the eyes of the international community,” OPAN said in a statement issued on Monday.

OPAN further decried the clandestine effort to gag social media voices in Nigeria and called on the Federal Government to “exercise restraints in dealing with issues that affect the youths, freedom of expression, media freedom, and those actions that could directly or indirectly widen the unemployment gap in the country,” the statement added.