MTN, Glo, Airtel, others profit margin shrinks amid terrorist crackdown in Zamfara

Nigeria’s telecommunication companies profit margin has been hampered, as all mobile networks were shut down in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara.

Advertisements

iBrandTV gathered that authorities ordered a telecoms blackout to help armed forces tackle armed gangs of kidnappers terrorising the area.

NBS report

Advertisements

This development with drop the profit margin of the telecom operators, as the state is among the highest user of mobile data and network.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS,  Zamfara’s active voice I’m Q1, 2021, mobile (GSM) all network stood at 2.2million.

Advertisements

While active internet user within same period under review was 1.6 million.

It was also gathered that mobile networks  stopped functioning over the weekend. Calls to police and officials inside the state were not going through.

NCC comments on blackout 

A letter from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to network provider Globacom, read that, the blackout was “to enable relevant security agencies carry out required activities towards addressing the security challenge in the state.

Advertisements

Zamfara has been one of the worst-hit states in a wave of mass abductions of pupils from schools across northwestern Nigeria by armed gangs of ransom seekers operating from remote camps.

A source at the Nigerian air force, asked to comment on media reports that military operations against the gangs were under way, said: “We are clearing these elements fiercely and decisively. It’s a total operation.”

Advertisements

The NCC letter instructed Globacom to suspend phone and internet services to Zamfara from September 3 for an initial two weeks.

Britain’s Foreign Office updated its Nigeria travel advice, warning about the blackout in Zamfara and saying areas of neighbouring states may also be affected.

In the latest incident in Zamfara, more than 70 pupils were kidnapped from a secondary school in the village of Kaya last week. read more

One of the Zamfara residents contacted by Reuters, lecturer Abubakar Abdullahi Alhasan, said he had heard that a military crackdown had been going on since the mobile networks had stopped working.

“The Nigerian air force and army were succeeding in dislodging some of the bandits’ camps. They killed many and recovered arms and ammunition while many others were arrested,” he said.

Military spokespeople in the capital Abuja were not responding to requests for comment.

Advertisements

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.