Zulum’s media office gives 3 days ultimatum to handlers of multiple unauthorized twitter accounts

Individuals or groups behind any of the unauthorized twitter accounts bearing the name or photo of Borno’s Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum have until three days to close such accounts or contact the media team for discussions.

Those who fail to comply with the warning risk being investigated by security officials for criminal impersonation of the Governor in addition to the filing of criminal report to Twitter incorporation to have the account blacklisted.

Zulum’s special adviser on public relations and strategy who heads the Governor’s media team, Malam Isa Gusau, issued the warning in a statement on Thursday morning.

“While Governor Babagana Umara Zulum recognizes and appreciates those who make selfless efforts to promote the activities of his administration through different media platforms that includes a microblogging and social networking site, Twitter, the manner in which some individuals or groups have gone about creating and operating unauthorized personal accounts for the Governor, is totally unacceptable. In the last six months, at least five accounts have been opened in the Governor’s name. The media office has made frantic efforts like sending them Direct Messages (DMs) to these accounts, particularly one of such accounts that has generated more than 2,000 followers. However, the operators of these unauthorized accounts have refused to identify themselves or come forward for discussions. At the moment, the Governor has one authorized official account which is @GovBorno. There is also a recently created personal handle that is already growing followers. However in order not to embarrass operators of any of the multiple unauthorized accounts, there will be three days delay in announcing the name of the recently created authorized personal account. The delay is to give three days room to operators of existing multiple accounts to either close these accounts or in the case of the one with substantial followers, come forward for negotiations. The negotiations will of course include critical review of the kinds of content shared by the account since it was created, the persons being followed by the account and those following it to possibly reach a win-win resolution” the statement said.

The statement noted that “operators of any of the multiple accounts can, within three days, use the same unauthorized accounts to send Direct Messages (DM) to any of the following twitter accounts:  @GovBorno, @SpokesmanBornoG or @Bundi58. Although Emails may as a last option, be sent to govborno@gmail.com sending DM’s from the unauthorized accounts would be the best way to indicate that the sender exercises password control over the account”.

”The DM’s should contain identity of those sending the messages with request for meeting at a venue and time that is convenient for both parties” the statement added.

Gusau said beside Twitter, those operating unauthorized personal accounts in the Governor’s name on Facebook that should begin to bring down such accounts as drastic measures are already being adopted.