EFCC account disappears from X

The official account of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, is no longer visible. 

Checks by TheCable on Thursday showed that the landing page of the account, which has over two million followers, reads: ‘The term you entered did not bring up any results. Please try again later’.

Dele Oyewale, spokesperson of the EFCC, is yet to respond to requests for comments on the development.

The commission’s X handle has been a one-stop shop for information on Nigeria’s anti-graft war for many years. It often details statements and progress reports from the commission’s chair, the hounding of suspected internet fraudsters across school campuses, mugshots of accused persons, and the arrests/grilling of politically exposed persons.

But it is now crickets for the EFCC on the app.

HACKING ATTEMPTS? 

There are a number of reasons why accounts on the platform may not be accessible — from poor internet connection, uncleared cache, suspicious usage/attempted hack, to the flagging of the handle for a violation of X policies.

However, the website of the EFCC, as well as its Facebook and Instagram accounts, are still visible — an indication that this is more than the commission pulling the plug on its social media activities.

Hacking of government accounts on X is not uncommon in these parts.

In 2020, at the height of demonstrations against police brutality, entities such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), repelled attacks on their websites and social media accounts.

Hackers seized the X account of NBC and posted a series of messages in support of the protesters.

In August 2023, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) raised the alarm over hackers targeting the country’s critical digital infrastructure.