Phone network shut down in 13 Katsina LGAs

Telecommunication services have been shut down in Katsina State.

At least 13 Local Government Areas are affected by the development which may not be unconnected with the ongoing security operations against bandits in the North West.

The affected LGAs are Sabuwa, Faskari, Dandume, Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibia, Safana, Dutsin-Ma and Kurfi that are on the fringes of the Ruggu forest where most of the bandits are hiding.

The other three include Funtua, Bakori and Malumfashi.

This comes a few days after the National Communications Commission (NCC) denied plan to shut down telecom sites in Katsina.

Recall that the NCC had refuted a trending social media story claiming that the commission had ordered telecom service providers to shut down their sites in Katsina.

In a statement, Director General (Media), Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, had said the Executive Vice Chaiman/CEO of NCC, Professor Umar D. Danbatta, had spoken to the the state government on the matter where he said the story was false.

The NCC VC/CEO added that the purported letter trending in the social media was a cloned version of the one sent to Zamfara State, where there is a total shutdown of telecom sites.

NCC had issued a directive to telecom operators to shut down their services in the neighbouring Zamfara State as from September 3, to enable security agencies carry out required operations in relation to the pervasive security challenges.