Mobile phone service was turned off yesterday in Borno and
Yobe, stifling social life and business activities in two of the three states
affected by the proclamation of state of emergency on Tuesday.
Daily Trust’s
correspondents reported that services of all the GSM networks—Airtel, MTN, Glo
and Etisalat—were unavailable since early morning yesterday, obviously turned
off as part of the military operation aimed at ridding the areas of insurgents.
There was no
official statement on why the cell phone services were turned off, but
insurgents were believed to have used mobile phones to remotely detonate bombs
in the past.
Fighter jets
and thousands of troops have been deployed to Borno and Yobe, as well as to
Adamawa State which is also under emergency rule, to try to dislodge insurgents
whose uprising caused the death of thousands since 2009.
“I think the
cell phone service cut was taken in order to give way for soldiers to launch
unhindered onslaught on suspects in targeted areas,” a Maiduguri resident said.
Cell phone
service disruption is not new to some parts of northern Borno, as many towns in
Gubio and Monguno local government areas have been without service since last
year when insurgents destroyed cell towers there.
But for the
first time, southern Borno including Biu, Hawul and Bayo local government areas
have been affected following yesterday’s cut of mobile phone services.
Grema
Babagoni, who came into Maiduguri from Biu, said the cell phone service shut
down affected social and economic lives of the people.
Motorists who
came to Maiduguri from the border towns of Gamboru Ngala and Marte said
Cameroonian authorities also turned off telecommunication signals that reach
those communities.
“We relied on
Cameroon (for network services) for a very long period of time but we woke up
today (yesterday) and found out that all the signals are gone,” a motorist
said.
Bus drivers
who came to Damaturu motor park from various locations in Yobe State also told
our correspondent that GSM services were turned off across the 17 local
government areas.
Malam Samaila
Sule, a bus driver from Gaidam, said he noticed the service failure around 3am
when he intended calling home to know the condition of his sick child. “I was
worried when I discovered the shutting down of GSM services, because I left my
child terribly ill,” he said.
Some recharge
card sellers in Maiduguri said their source of livelihood has been affected and
so most of them were forced to remain at home. “This is a big problem as I have
not sold a single recharge card since morning,” Mohammed Gobir said.
But internet
facilities not reliant on cell phone companies were running yesterday in the
two states.
Telecoms
operators told Daily Trust they were aware of the services cut but declined to
say if this was caused by military activities. Chairman of the Association of
Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr Gbenga Adebayo, said
members of the organisation were working on the problem.
An official at
telephony regulator Nigerian Communications Commission confirmed to our
reporter that military operations led to the cutting off of cell phone
services.
But spokesman
for the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade,
denied this.
“You should
know that even before now there were difficulties in telephone services in the
area because the insurgents have destroyed several telecommunication facilities.
As soon as you leave Maiduguri, you will be experiencing network problems until
you get to Chad,” he said.
Curfew in
Adamawa
Meanwhile, the
Nigerian Army yesterday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Adamawa State
following the presidential declaration of the state of emergency.
It is the
first major change witnessed in the state since the declaration of the state of
emergency on Tuesday.
A statement
signed by the army public relations officer in Yola Lt. Jaaru Mohammed Nuhu
said the decision followed the imposition of the state of emergency in the
state and neighbouring Borno and Yobe.
The full
statement reads: “Sequel to the Presidential Declaration of a State of
Emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States by the President and Commander in
Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan GCFR, a 6pm to 6am curfew has been imposed on Adamawa State with
effect from 16 May 2013. All law abiding citizens are advised to abide by the
curfew”.
Lt. Nuhu later
told Daily Trust that even before declaration of the state of emergency, the
army has been actively involved in security operation in the state, and that
the same operation would just continue.
There has not
been any visible change in troops’ deployment in Yola yet since the declaration
of the state of emergency.
At the 23
Brigade headquarters in Yola, our correspondent did not see any obvious increase
of troops.
The army
spokesman declined to say whether some have been sent to other parts of the
state after the declaration. He said troops’ movement has been going on in the
state even before the declaration.
In the state
capital, Yola, people are still going about their businesses as usual, but many
expressed worries over the imposition of the curfew, saying it was unnecessary.
House-to-house
search in Maiduguri
In Maiduguri,
residents said security operatives have stepped up house- to-house search throughout
Wednesday night and yesterday.
Baba Musa of
Kula Gumna area said soldiers had surrounded the area in the early hours of
yesterday and searched houses. Similar activities took place in Tashar Gwoza,
Lawan Bukar, Mairi, Gomari airport and Bulunkutu areas, Daily Trust learnt.
Travellers
coming into Maiduguri had to pass through thorough screening at Jimtilo, the
main entrance for motorists from Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and southern part of
Nigeria.
Vehicles had
to wait for hours in gridlocks along the Bauchi-Maiduguri road before they got
screened.
A bus driver
who took off from Bauchi around 6am yesterday said it took him over ten hours
to get to Maiduguri, a journey that would normally have lasted about five
hours.
“This is a new
phase of difficulty for us. All the passengers in my vehicle were asked to go
out from the vehicle at the entrance of Potiskum, Damaturu and Maiduguri. They
were asked to identify themselves while their luggage was searched,” he said.
But the Yobe
State capital Damaturu remained calm, even though the cell phone service cut
has caused hardship for the people.
Tags
Politics