Social media giant Facebook has revealed “real reasons” behind the removal of the account run by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
Igbere TV had on Tuesday reported the deletion of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) initiator’s account, amid the controversy surrounding the operation of ESN in the Southeast.
In response to a mailed in inquiry to Facebook on Thursday, by Igbere TV, a spokesperson for the social media giant said Kanu’s page was removed for violating the Community’s guidelines.
“We believe in giving people a voice, but we also want everyone using Facebook to feel safe. It’s why we have Community Standards, which set out what is and isn’t allowed on Facebook, and we remove anything that violates them,” the spokesperson said.
“In line with our rules, we removed Nnamdi Kanu’s page for repeatedly posting content that breaks those Community Standards, including content that violated our rules on coordinating harm and hate speech,” Facebook added in the mail to Igbere TV.
The deletion of Nnamdi Kanu’s Facebook account came days after the IPOB leader posted a video showing the eviction of killer herdsmen from Southeast forests and killing of cows owned by Fulani herders by the ESN.
Spokesman for the IPOB, Emma Powerful could not be reached for comment. But in a backup account allegedly owned by Kanu, the IPOB leader alleged that the Nigerian government paid Facebook to pull down his page.
“The zoo(a term he uses to address Nigeria) have payed(sic) Facebook to delete my the other page, but we are unstoppable, We are the great children’s of chukwu okikeabiama, the zoo is gone forever, #wemove,” he wrote.
Checks by Igbere TV on Thursday afternoon shows that the Kanu’s Facebook account, which he uses to front his Biafra agitation and some times issue order to ESN, was still ‘down’ 48 hours later.
This is not the first time that Facebook is pulling down accounts belonging to top political figures and activists across the globe over alleged violation of their Community’s guidelines.
In January, the social media giant suspended the official account of former United States president Donald Trump over persistent posts alleging election fraud and for allegedly calling for violence in the U.S. Capitol.
The deletion of Nnamdi Kanu’s official Facebook account has been met with mixed reaction with many users alleging a clampdown on dissenting voices and infringement on people’s rights to freedom of speech.
