Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters has urged the public to ignore suspicious posts from its official X account after an attempted cyberattack.
The warning was issued on Saturday by the Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, who said the military detected an unauthorised effort to gain control of the account.
According to Uba, technical security measures were activated immediately to protect the account and block further unauthorised access.
Cybersecurity Team Working to Restore Account
Uba said cybersecurity personnel were continuing efforts to regain full control of the account.
The Defence Headquarters also cautioned Nigerians, media organisations and other stakeholders against treating questionable posts appearing on the account as official information while the recovery process is ongoing.
The military did not identify those responsible for the attempted breach. It also provided no details about whether any unauthorised content had been published through the account.
Public Urged to Use Alternative Channels
Until the X account is fully secured, the Defence Headquarters advised the public to rely on its verified communication platforms for information about military activities and operations.
These include:
- Facebook: Defence Headquarters Nigeria
- Instagram: @defenceheadquarters
- WhatsApp: Defence Headquarters’ official channel
The military reaffirmed its commitment to protecting its information systems and ensuring that Nigerians receive accurate and verified updates on the activities of the Armed Forces.
For now, the message from Defence Headquarters is simple: treat anything suspicious on its X account as unverified and rely on its alternative official channels for updates.