By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Internet service providers in Nigeria have complied with the order of the Nigerian government to block the use of Twitter in the country.
Users woke up this morning, June 5, to discover that the app no longer load on their device.
Twitter can, however, still be used in Nigeria through a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is a server located in another country. The only difference is that the user’s tweets will be counted as part of that country’s data, like trends, which is the topical issue users are talking about on the app.
One user who downloaded a VPN that routed his connection to a server in Estonia, found that Nigeria, Buhari and Twitter ban, were the trends for that country.
Already, Mobile network operators in Nigeria under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, said they have started blocking access to Twitter in a statement issued on Saturday.
The statement signed by the association chairman, Gbenga Adebayo; and Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga. reads: “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.”