We don’t have powers to arrest, prosecute Twitter violators – NCC

The National Communications Commission (NCC) says it does not have the power to arrest or prosecute anybody for violating the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

The Commission gave the clarification on Monday through its Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde.

The Commission spoke against the backdrop of the directive by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, instructing the Director of Public Prosecution to liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, the NCC and other relevant government agencies “to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay.”

Responding in that regard, Adinde said, “the NCC is a regulator. It is not within our power to arrest or prosecute.

“We limited ourselves based on the order given to us by the government, which was to instruct the operators to disconnect, which was what we did.

“So, the other aspects are not within our purview,” he said