June 5, 2021

The directive follows Friday’s indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operations, two days after the social media giant deleted a tweet from President Buhari’s verified account. Adebayo confirmed that its members had received formal instructions from NCC to suspend access to Twitter

Telecoms companies (Telcos) in Nigeria have blocked access to Twitter on the order of the Nigerian Communications commission, NCC.

The implication is that telecom service providers will lose revenues in billions of naira if the suspension is stretched; besides, other businesses in Nigeria which depend on Twitter to advertise or market their products and services will also suffer losses.

Twitter is the fifth most used social media in Nigeria after Facebook, You Tube,  Instagram, and FB Messenger with all aggregating to over 28 million social media users.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), an industry group, says it had received directives from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, to suspend access to Twitter.

The President of ALTON, Mr Gbenga Adebayo made this known in a statement in Lagos, on Saturday.

The directive follows Friday’s indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operations, two days after the social media giant deleted a tweet from President Buhari’s verified account. Adebayo confirmed that its members had received formal instructions from NCC to suspend access to Twitter.

“ALTON has also conducted a robust assessment of the request 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 NCC.

“We will continue to engage all  relevant authorities and stakeholders and will act as may be further directed by the NCC, ” Adebayo said.

He said the association remained committed to supporting the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and upholding  the rights of citizens.

As an industry, ALTON endorsed the position of the United Nations that the rights held by people offline must also be protected online, Adebayo’s statement said.

He noted that this included 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.