Buhari orders MTN, Glo, Airtel, others to deactivate Twitter by 12 midnight

The President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered telecommunications operators to effect the suspension of microblogging platform Twitter in Nigeria.

A statement on Saturday by the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said it has received instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to deactivate twitter on their networks by 12 midnight.

Adebayo added that the operations have conducted an assessment of the request according to international best practices.

The statement read: “We, the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter.

“ALTON has 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 the NCC the industry regulator.

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“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.”

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