Twitter has stopped working in Nigeria after the Federal Government said on Friday that it was suspending the activities of the social media platform.
Subscribers on MTN and 9mobile have had their subscription to Twitter cut off.
Airtel, Globacom and other internet service providers are expected to follow soon.
Minutes before Twitter’s activities were shut down, the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari tweeted that she was going to deactivate her official Twitter account “for now”.
Twitter users can only use the services of the social media platform via a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Chronicle NG reports that attempts to open Twitter via Nigeria internet service providers failed from 12 midnight.
Announcing the suspension of Twitter activities, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed said the decision was taken because of the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria, Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant To The President (Media), Office of the Minister of Information and Culture said.
The indefinite suspension of Twitter has generated mixed reaction among Nigerians, many of whom have questioned the government’s decision.
Twitter representatives are expected to meet representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria on Saturday to discuss the way forward.
It would be recalled that Twitter deleted a civil war tweet by President Muhmammadu Buhari on 2 June following complaints that it was genocidal.
