Nigerian-born American professor, Uju Anya, has stated that she fears her life is in danger after she tweeted about wishing Queen Elizabeth II ‘excruciating death’ on her deathbed.
Anya is a Professor of Second Language Acquisition, Department of Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America.
According to her, her life has been under threat since she tweeted about the Queen.
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, while the Queen was on her deathbed, Anya tweeted, “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.”
This tweet sparked a global conversation on Twitter about colonialism and Britain’s alleged support for the Nigerian government against the Igbos during a civil war that lasted for three years in Nigeria.
In reaction, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, stated that he does not think someone whose job is to make the world better should put out such a tweet.
Thereafter, the management of Carnegie Mellon University, where Anya works as a lecturer also distanced itself from the tweet, saying it does not condone the ‘offensive and objectionable’ message Anya had posted on Twitter.
Twitter also took down the tweet for violating its rules.
However, according to the professor, since Thursday, people have been creating fake accounts on Facebook to impersonate her and spread lies against her.
She stated that some people have also linked her to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). She further added that they were using her for a political movement she does not align with.
Anya then stated that linking her to IPOB could make the Nigerian government consider her to be a terrorist.
