Communications minister Isa Pantami on Wednesday said that the shutdown on telecommunications services in Zamfara State was at the instance of the security agencies and not the federal government.

Mr Pantami disclosed this to journalists at the presidential villa on Wednesday, exonerating the President Muhammadu Buhari regime from the blackout that has been heavily criticised by Nigerians.

“I am aware of the shutting down, but the request is not from us. Rather, the request is from the security institutions, in which they asked for that as part of their strategy.  

“Because of this, government allowed them to go ahead and even that one, the reason for doing that I may be aware of some, but I’m sorry to say it’s not for public discussion,” Mr Pantami said.

Peoples Gazette had on Friday reported that the shutdown could spark concerns about the safety of citizens across the state, and whether or not the administration has powers to deprive millions of citizens of their rights to communicate and access information.

However, the minister said that the federal government only granted the request because it came from the security agencies.

Refusing to disclose the reason for the shutdown, the minister said that the Buhari regime was ready to sacrifice economic gains in the telecoms sector for better security.

The minister also asked Nigerians to give security agencies a benefit of doubt whenever they come up with strategies to battle insecurity.

He explained that security agencies were privy to information that is not in the public space.

The government on Friday ordered all telecom networks operating in Zamfara to shut down operations forthwith as security forces ramped up crackdown on the re-emerging upsurge of armed banditry ravaging the state and its environs.

Telecoms regulator NCC in a directive to mobile network carriers said all telecom masts should be demobilised across the beleaguered state and in neighbouring communities where signals from masts could be beamed into Zamfara.

The shutdown of telecom signals came days after Governor Bello Matawalle banned transportation of food items and restricted the movement of commercial motorcycles between 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The governor also placed a moratorium on the transportation of petrol and other fuels in Zamfara.

Mr Matawalle, who had previously sought a truce with bandits and urged Nigerians to show them love and encourage them to eschew their criminal lifestyles, has recently lamented that bandits who had previously turned themselves in and promised cessation of hostilities have been returning to their criminal past.