Nigerian Army X account hit by attempted cyberattack

The Nigerian Army has disclosed that its official X account was targeted in an attempted unauthorised access on Saturday, after the platform began publishing posts promoting memecoin-related content.

The suspicious posts reportedly started appearing on the Army’s X account at about 3:50pm, raising concerns over the security of the military institution’s social media platform.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Appolonia Anele, confirmed that the incident was being treated as a cybersecurity breach.

“The Nigerian Army has detected and is actively responding to an attempted unauthorised access to its official X (formerly Twitter) account,” Anele said in a statement posted on the Army’s Facebook page.

She said the Army immediately activated technical and protective measures to secure the account, block further unauthorised access and protect the integrity of information being disseminated through the platform.

Anele added that efforts were ongoing to fully secure the account and restore exclusive administrative control to the Army.

“The Nigerian Army assures members of the public, the media and other stakeholders that appropriate measures are underway to fully secure the affected account and restore exclusive administrative control,” she said.

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The military authorities consequently warned members of the public and the media against relying on suspicious or unauthorised information published through the affected X account.

The Army urged users to disregard any “suspicious, unauthorised, misleading or unverified content” appearing on the platform until the security incident is fully resolved.

It further advised members of the public and media organisations to verify information through the Army’s other official communication channels.

It was not immediately clear whether the Army had regained full control of the X account at the time of the statement. The last legitimate post on the account had been published before the suspected breach.

The incident is the second reported compromise of a major Nigerian military social media account in August.

About two weeks earlier, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) disclosed that its official X account had also been compromised in a cyberattack.

In a statement issued on August 15, Director of Defence Information, Samaila Uba, said the DHQ had activated appropriate technical measures to secure the account and prevent further unauthorised access.

The latest incident has renewed concerns over the cybersecurity of official government communication platforms, particularly accounts used by security agencies to disseminate sensitive information to the public.