General Manager, Corporate Affairs for MTN, Funmi Omogbenigun |
Kano - Gunmen in
northern Nigeria attacked and damaged several mobile phone masts on Wednesday,
including those belonging to MTN and Airtel , security sources and one of the
companies said.
The attacks
occurred in the northern Nigerian cities of Kano and Maiduguri, where Islamists
are waging a low-level insurgency against President Goodluck Jonathan's
government.
In Maiduguri,
Islamist group Boko Haram's home base in the far northeast, a Reuters reporter
saw 10 masts burned to the ground on Wednesday morning and local residents
complained there was no mobile telephone reception.
In Kano, Nigeria's
second largest city, men on motorbikes destroyed MTN and Airtel mobile phone
masts in the early hours of Wednesday, a policeman said, asking not to be
named. He said Boko Haram was suspected to be behind the attack.
Tracking
It was not clear
if Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds this year in the largely-Muslim north,
was involved. The sect usually attacks government, security or sectarian
targets.
Sources close to
the sect said Boko Haram members have in the past been concerned they may be
traced through mobile phones.
"We confirm
that like all the other major telcos, some of MTN's installations in northern
Nigeria have been damaged by unknown persons," spokesperson Funmilayo
Omogbenigun said.
"All the
relevant government security agencies have been informed and we are receiving
their full co-operation."
A police
spokesperson in Kano and Maiduguri declined to comment, saying investigations
were ongoing. Airtel was not immediately available for comment.
Boko Haram's
insurgency is aimed at carving out an Islamic state in Nigeria, a country of
around 160 million people split roughly equally between Christian and Muslims.
0 comments:
Post a Comment