MTN, 9mobile, Airtel, GLO and Other ISPs Blocks Access to twitter In Nigeria

The Telecommunication Companys and Internet Services providers in Nigeria has commenced blockage of customers access to the twitter portal, website and app on their various networks, as ordered by the Federal Government, this means that you as a customer cannot open the twitter app or website in Nigeria via any of the networks.

We told you earlier that the Nigerian government has banned the activities of the Microblogging and social networking service “Twitter” due to some controversy between the Nigerian president and Twitter ,you can read the full gist here, today most twitter users in Nigeria couldn’t access the app or website because the ISPs(MTN, Airtel, GLO, 9mobile, Spectranet, etc) has blacklisted and blocked access to the twitter portal on their website.

Mobile network operators in the country under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, however, made it clear that they have started blocking access to Twitter in a statement issued on Saturday.

The statement which was titled, ‘Order to Suspend access to Twitter’. It 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.

“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.”

MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile are the Major ISP in Nigeria, others include Spectranet, ipNX Nigeria Limited, Swift Networks Ltd., Vezeti Service LTD, Cyberspace Network Limited, Mobitel Limited, Smile Nigeria, ITClick Solutions Limited, and Netcom Africa.

Statistics has it that about 33 million Nigerians use twitter as of January 2021, which is about 61.4 per cent of Nigerian social media users.

Companies and Media outlets that use the twitter portal as a means of information dispensation and customer support will surely feel the pain.

Here is a statement from other countries

Even though twitter is officially banned in the country, users in Nigeria can still access the twitter app and portal via Location change apps Popularly known as VPN, The VPN app is a free internet changer app that you can use to change your location, Bypass block websites and content by changing your Internet IP to a different country, Click here to learn how to use Vpn app