The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has warned of impending telecom service disruption in border areas of the country.
This warning follows the Nigeria Customs Service’s directive to all customs zonal coordinators not to allow petroleum products to be delivered to any filling stations within 20 kilometers radius to any border area in Nigeria.
ALTON in a letter sent to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the directive is already having a huge negative impact on its members’ operations, noting that if the necessary agencies of government do not urgently intervene in the situation, the impact will be significant.
“So far the Nigeria Customs Service has stopped our members’ trucks in Kebbi, Kano, and Calabar from supplying diesel to the telecommunications sites within the borders areas. This may lead to total shut down of communications system/services and by implications worsen the security operations within those areas,” it warned.
It requests the immediate intervention of the Commission and the Federal Government, stressing that by midday on Saturday, 9th November 2019, major hub sites carrying heavy traffic will be shut down due to lack of diesel.