The official Twitter account of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been inaccessible for three consecutive days, raising concerns of a possible cyberattack by suspected “Yahoo Boys”—a colloquial term for Nigerian cybercriminals.
Disappearance of EFCC’s Twitter Account
The account, which has over two million followers, disappeared from the platform, with checks on Thursday morning revealing the message: “This account doesn’t exist.” The sudden outage has led to widespread speculation about the cause, especially given the recent threats of cyber warfare from a group of suspected internet fraudsters.
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EFCC’s Response: Network Problem or Cyber Attack?
Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed the issue but attributed it to a network problem rather than a cyberattack. “Our ICT department is working on it. They have been on it for almost three days now. We are hoping it will come up again,” Oyewale told The Gazette on Wednesday night.
Despite these reassurances, the timing of the outage—coming shortly after online threats against the EFCC—has fueled suspicions that the agency may be under cyber attack. The threats were reportedly posted on Reddit and other online forums in retaliation for the EFCC’s recent crackdown on suspicious online activities. Some of the youths involved claimed that EFCC detectives had extorted them, leading to vows of cyber retaliation.
Social Media Concerns and Related Security Issues
While the EFCC’s other social media platforms remain unaffected, the disappearance of its Twitter account has sparked anxiety among Nigerian netizens, particularly on X (formerly Twitter). The outage has also drawn comparisons to other recent cybersecurity concerns within Nigeria.
In a related development, concerns have been raised about the security of customer data at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank). Numerous users took to social media to report that GTBank’s website may have been compromised, sharing screenshots of the allegedly hacked site. This has led to growing fears over the safety of personal and financial information held by the bank.
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Call for Action, Public Reassurance and Need for Improve Cyber Security
As fears escalate, GTBank customers have called on the bank to urgently address the situation and provide reassurance regarding the security of their data. Similarly, the EFCC is under pressure to resolve its Twitter account outage swiftly and clarify the circumstances surrounding it, given the broader implications of a potential cyber attack on a high-profile government agency.