Telecommunication companies in Nigeria among whom are MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile have commenced blocking user’s access to Twitter, African News Today has gathered.
The telcos acknowledged receipt of a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, to block access to Twitter in Nigeria following the suspension imposed on the microblogging platform by the Federal Government on Friday.
Twitter users in Nigeria on Saturday reported difficulty in accessing their Twitter accounts while some successfully accessed theirs using Virtual Private Networks, VPN.
In a statement released on Saturday, titled, ‘Order to Suspend access to Twitter’ mobile network operators in the country under the auspices of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, however, confirmed that they have commenced blocking Twitter access.
The statement was jointly signed by ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo; and ALTON Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga.
It read, “We, The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter.
“ALTON has conducted a robust assessment of the directive in accordance with internationally accepted principles.
“Based on national interest provisions in the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and within the licence terms under which the industry operates; our members have acted in compliance with the directives of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator.
“We will continue to engage all the relevant authorities and stakeholders and will act as may be further directed by the NCC. We remain committed to supporting the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and upholding the rights of citizens.
“As an industry, we endorse the position of the United Nations that the rights held by people offline must also be protected online. This includes respecting and protecting the rights of all people to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications.”
Also, some of the other Internet Service Providers in Nigeria include Spectranet, ipNX Nigeria Limited, Swift Networks Ltd., Vezeti Service LTD, Cyberspace Network Limited, Mobitel Limited, Smile Nigeria, ITClick Solutions Limited, and Netcom Africa.
Recall that Twitter had deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
Consequently, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who had accused Twitter of double standards, announced the suspension of the microblogging site on Friday, citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.