Twitter back in Nigeria after seven-month ban

Twitter was accessible in Nigeria on Thursday after the government lifted a seven-month ban on the social media giant for deleting a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nigeria halted Twitter operations in June, provoking an international outcry over freedom of expression.

The government and Twitter had been in negotiations over restoring the service based on a set of conditions, including Twitter registering its operations in Nigeria.

Twitter was accessible in the main metropolis and economic hub of Lagos as of 0600 GMT, a journalist said.

"We are pleased that Twitter has been restored for everyone in Nigeria. Our mission in Nigeria -- and everywhere in the world -- is to serve the public conversation," a Twitter spokesperson said.

"We are deeply committed to Nigeria, where Twitter is used by people for commerce, cultural engagement, and civic participation."

In Africa's largest economy, three quarters of the population of 200 million are younger than 24 -- a generation that is also hyper-connected to social media. 

The ban shocked many in Nigeria, where Twitter has had a major role in political discourse, with the hashtags #BringBackOurGirls after Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls in 2014.

Young activists turned to Twitter last year to organise the #EndSARS protests against police brutality that eventually grew into the largest demonstrations in Nigeria's modern history before they were repressed.

National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) director general Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, who had been part of the negotiations, said on Wednesday Buhari had approved the lifting of the ban from midnight.