September 29, 2021

The Kaduna State government has served notice that the state will shut down telecommunication services in some parts due to insecurity. The shutdown was based on advisory from security agencies.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai,  who made the announcement during a media chat with some local radio stations in the state, said the planned shutdown is because of the plan by security agencies to launch a massive attack on bandits taking refuge in some parts of the state.

El-Rufai said that the shutdown would not cover the entire state but he will only affect the LGAs bordering the troubled Zamfara and Katsina states.

He said: “We have been advised by the military and other security agencies to shut down telecommunication services in certain LGAs but we are waiting for the security agencies to tell us which specific areas and when.

“But I want the people of Kaduna State to know that if they give us the go-ahead tomorrow, we will shut down tomorrow.

“There is no doubt that bandits and other criminals rely on telecommunication to communicate with their informants as well as with relatives of kidnapped victims so as to demand ransom.”

The governor said he had already written to the Federal Government on the shutdown which he said had been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I will not mention the LGAs to be affected but the local governments that are constantly being tormented by bandits know themselves,” he said.