TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has broken his silence on the fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), saying the telecommunications “contributed to the casualties” recorded during Boko Haram attacks.

Speaking on Tuesday during a joint press conference at the end of a closed-door meeting with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, who is on a two-day visit to the country, Buhari said Nigeria is more interested in security than sanctioning any organisation.

“This is the first time I will be personally, as a president, making a public comment about it. The concern of the federal government is basically on the security and not the fine imposed on MTN,” he said.

“You know how the unregistered GSM are being used by terrorists. And between 2009 and today, at least 10,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram.

“That was why NCC asked MTN, Glo and the rest of them to register GSM. Unfortunately, MTN was very, very slow and contributed to the casualties.”

More to follow…