The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria on Saturday confirmed that it has been directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission, an agency under the Ministry of Information to block access to Twitter in Nigeria.
The confirmation follows the Federal Government’s threat to block the US based microblogging platform, Twitter after it deleted President Muhammadu Buhir’s tweet.
Twitter did not only delete the president’s tweet, it also banned his account for 12 hours.
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The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had announced on Friday that the Federal Government was suspending Twitter indefinitely over “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
President Buhari tweeted on Tuesday, “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
ALTON said in a statement signed by Ghenga Adebayo, ALTON’s Chairman that “We the association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wish to confirm that our members have received formal instruction from the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter,” .
By 12AM midnight on Saturday, the microblogging site was no longer accessible to Nigerian users.
ALTON said, “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 (NCC) 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 nights 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.”