President Bola Tinubu’s government has said that security agencies are unable to track down terrorists branding weapons and loads of ransom collected in cash on social media because they use Elon Musk’s Starlink and other internet services from neighbouring countries.

Daniel Bwala, one of the spokespersons for Mr Tinubu, disclosed this in an interview with a radio station, Nigeria Info, on Thursday, when asked why Nigerian security agencies were swift to track down, arrest and detain government critics but have failed to do the same with terrorists boasting and flaunting ransom on social media.

“Let me give you one scenario: There is a regulatory body in Nigeria that has a database of Nigerian people. There is also a body that deals with internet service provision, where if you are using an internet service that is covered within the sphere of Nigeria, we can trace wherever you are through your IP address.

“If you are using Starlink, we cannot trace it because Starlink is not registered in Nigeria. It’s in the space.”

Starlink prides itself as the “world’s most advanced satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet”.

The presidential spokesperson stated that the terrorists “most of the time are using cellular services from neighbouring countries, not Nigeria. So it becomes tricky”.