All telecommunication companies in Nigeria’s Zamfara state have been ordered to shut down services by the federal government.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued the order. Following the rise in instability in the state, this directive became necessary.
The federal government had previously proclaimed the state a no-fly zone, prohibiting airlines from flying into and out of the state.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, the executive vice-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NCC issued a letter to the Chief Executive Officers of telecoms businesses titled “Re: Shutdown of All Telecom Sites in Zamfara State.”
The decision, according to the NCC, is to allow essential security services to carry out needed actions in order to meet the state’s security concerns.
According to the letter, the pervasive security situation in Zamfara State has prompted the urgent shutdown of all telecom services in the state from the issued date.
NCC asked the operators to “shut down all sites in Zamfara State and any site(s) in neighboring states that could provide telecommunications service in Zamfara State” in order to comply with this demand. In the first case, the site will be closed for two (2) weeks.
“Your prompt action is essential in this regard,” the letter stated. While the instruction was unique to Zamfara State, the mention of any other infrastructure in any site(s) in neighboring states that may supply telecommunications service in Zamfara implies that other states bordering the state would be impacted by the shut.
To ensure a complete suspension of service, the operators would have to close some of their installations in neighboring states, as the regulator has ordered, such states include Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, and President Buhari’s Katsina State share borders with Northwestern Zamfara.
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