Telecommunication services have been shut down in 13 local government areas of Katsina State.
According to Daily Trust, the development 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.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) had few days ago dismissed reports on plans to shut down telecommunication services in the state.
The NCC Director of Media, Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, in a statement, said the commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, had spoken to the state government on the matter where he said the story was false.
Malumfashi said the purported letter which surfaced on social media was a cloned version of the one sent to Zamfara State, where there is a total shutdown of telecom sites.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that NCC had directed telecom operators to shut down their services in Zamfara State for two weeks starting September 3 to enable security agencies to carry out the necessary operations against bandits in the state.