FUEL SUPPLY BAN: Brace up for communication disruptions, telecom operators tell Nigerians

The Association of Licenced Telecommunication of operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has warned that some regions in the country would experience communication disruptions due to the restrictions of trucks supplying diesel to the transceiver base stations close to the border areas.

The operators also said that by midday Saturday, the hub sites in Calabar, Cross River, would be shut down due to lack of diesel.

The ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo and the Head of Operations, Gbolahan Awonuga, stated this in a letter to the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission, Prof Umar Danbatta.

According to the association, the Nigeria Customs Service the directive on the movement of petroleum products around the border area was affecting telecommunications and has security implications.

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The letter reads: “Following the directives by the Nigeria Customs Service in a circular dated Wednesday, November 6, 2019, directing all customs zonal coordinators not to allow petroleum product to be delivered to any filling stations within 20 kilometres radius of border areas in Nigeria.

“The directive is already having huge negative impact on our members’ operations and this may be significant if the necessary agencies of government do not urgently intervene in the situation.”

The ALTON noted that the Customs had already stopped its members’ trucks in Kebbi, Kano and Calabar from supplying diesel to the telecommunications sites within the borders areas and called for urgent intervention of the NCC and the Federal Government as major hub sites might be affected.

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