The official Twitter account of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has been inaccessible for three days, raising concerns about a potential cyber attack by suspected internet fraudsters.
The outage, which began earlier this week, has left the EFCC’s account, followed by over two million users, displaying the message: “This account doesn’t exist.”
While some reports have speculated that the outage is the result of a cyber attack orchestrated by “Yahoo Boys”—a term commonly used to describe Nigerian cybercriminals—the EFCC has attributed the issue to a network problem. Dele Oyewale, the Commission’s spokesperson, confirmed the situation in a conversation with The Gazette on Wednesday night.
“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 said, dismissing claims of a cyberattack.
Despite the ongoing disruption to its Twitter presence, the EFCC assured the public that its ICT department is diligently working to restore access. The agency has maintained that other social media platforms it operates, including Facebook and Instagram, remain unaffected by the issue.
However, the disappearance of the EFCC’s Twitter account has sparked widespread speculation and concern among Nigerian netizens. Just days before the outage, a group of suspected internet fraudsters had allegedly vowed to launch a cyberattack on the EFCC. These threats, reportedly posted on Reddit and other online forums, were said to be in retaliation for the EFCC’s intensified crackdown on suspicious online activities.
Some individuals behind these threats claimed that EFCC detectives had extorted them, prompting their threats of “cyber warfare.” The situation has left many wondering whether the EFCC’s account outage is connected to these threats, although the Commission has yet to confirm such a link.
The disruption to the EFCC’s Twitter account has also coincided with reports that the website of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), a major Nigerian bank, may have been compromised. Several users on X (formerly Twitter) have expressed concerns about the safety of their personal and financial information, sharing screenshots of the allegedly hacked GTBank website. These developments have fueled fears about the broader implications of cybersecurity threats in Nigeria.
As the EFCC continues to work on restoring its Twitter account, the incident has highlighted the growing concerns over cybersecurity in the country, particularly as the agency ramps up its efforts to combat online fraud. The public awaits further updates from the EFCC on both the restoration of its Twitter account and any potential links to the alleged cyber threats.