By Wale Odunsi Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri is under a Twitter storm after his comment on Peter Obi. The former Anamb...
By Wale Odunsi
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri is under a Twitter
storm after his comment on Peter Obi.
The former Anambra governor is the presidential flagbearer
of the Labour Party (LP).
This week, Omokri made a tweet that young Nigerians,
particularly Obi’s supporters (Obidients), described as offensive and
provocative.
As of 2 p.m. local time, 110,000 people have signed the
petition in the last 48 hours; the target is 150,000.
The request is titled: Ban Reno Omokri from Twitter &
Rescind his “Business Insider Influencer of the Year Award”.
The petitioners said in January 2021, former United States
President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter over tweets about the US
election.
They recalled that on July 6, 2022, @renoomokri tweeted in
response to a televised interview with Obi.
“If you watch it with an unbiased mind, you see that Peter
Obi considers himself a pilot and Kwankwaso a mere driver and substitute
player. The people of Kano heard that. The North heard that. Others Nigerians
heard!”, it reads.
The applicants said to prove it was specifically targeted at
a section of the country, Omokri retweeted a version in Hausa language.
Citing the historical relationship and incidences, they
warned that both tweets could cause a crisis in the North and reprisals in the
East.
The petitioners argue that ethnic violence against the
South-East people – “perpetuated in the Northern part of Nigeria” – was one of
the factors that led to the civil war.
“Since then there have been multiple reports of ethnic
violence in various parts of Nigeria. A lot of them are targeted at Ibos. In
the east, some violence against northerners has occurred too.
“For @renoomokri to make such tweets to his 1.7million
followers given the history of Nigeria is not only reckless and dangerous, but
it is also extremely callous to try and stoke ethnic violence for political
gain.”
The petition also pointed out Omokri’s tweet about images of
a Muslim prayer mat which “insinuated” that haram (sin) was being done by Obi’s
supporters in the North.
The appeal said the reference was dangerous because, on May
12, 2022, a student in Sokoto State (Deborah Samuel) was burnt to death after
an accusation of blasphemy.
“@renoomokri should be stopped from continuing to use his
Twitter influence to create the risk of ethnic or religious violence in
Nigeria”, it demands.
On Friday, Omokri accused Obi’s fans of bullying, adding
that the LP candidate should be held responsible if anything happens to him.
No comments