Telecom
Sextortion Scams: Meta Delists 63,000 Nigerian Facebook Accounts

Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has said 63,000 Nigerian Facebook accounts have been deleted for allegedly trying to carry out financial extortion schemes.
This was disclosed by Meta in a statement titled ‘Combating Financial Sextortion Scams from Nigeria,’ on Wednesday.
This announcement from Meta coincides with the recent Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s fine of $220 million on Meta and its instant messaging service, WhatsApp, for what it claimed were discriminatory practices against Nigerians.
Sextortion is the act of extorting money or sexual favours from someone by threatening to expose any proof of their sexual behaviour.
Met stated that financial sextortion is a horrific crime that can have devastating consequences, adding there has been a growing trend of scammers “largely driven by cybercriminals known as Yahoo Boys targeting people across the internet, both with these and other types of scams.”
“We’ve banned Yahoo Boys under Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy — one of our strictest policies — which means we remove Yahoo Boys’ accounts engaged in this criminal activity whenever we become aware of them,” it stated.
The company claims to have taken down two Nigerian account sets connected to Yahoo Boys that were seeking to carry out money extortion fraudulent activities.
“First, we removed around 63,000 accounts in Nigeria that attempted to directly engage in financial sextortion scams.
“These included a smaller coordinated network of around 2,500 accounts that we were able to link to a group of around 20 individuals. They targeted primarily adult men in the US and used fake accounts to mask their identities,” it noted.
Meta stated that it also discovered the coordinated network of about 2,500 accounts through a mix of new technical signals it developed to help identify sextorters and in-depth examinations by our specialist teams.
According to social media company’s statement, the bulk of the accounts were identified and rendered inactive by its enforcement systems. The inquiry facilitated the removal of the remaining accounts and provided additional insights into the strategies employed to enhance its automated detection.
It added “Second, we removed around 7,200 assets, including 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 Facebook Pages, and 5,700 Facebook Groups, also based in Nigeria, that were providing tips for conducting scams.
“Their efforts included offering to sell scripts and guides to use when scamming people and sharing links to collections of photos to use when populating fake accounts.”
As of May 2023, there were around 41.6 million Facebook members in Nigeria, or 18.5% of the total population, according to Statista data.
Telecom
MTN @ Swish Fusion Summit, Showcases 5G Rollout Strategy

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has joined other professionals across media, technology, and business gathered in Lagos for the Swish Fusion Tech and Media Summit.
Themed ‘Africa: Big Wins & New Breaks’, the summit drew thousands of attendees and featured more than 40 speakers exploring the intersection of innovation, regulation, and economic growth across the continent.
Among the sessions, MTN Nigeria presented a detailed look at the company’s ongoing 5G deployment efforts and its role in shaping enterprise infrastructure.
Njideka Jack, senior manager for Partnerships in MTN’s Enterprise Business Division, shared details of the investments, reiterating the company’s commitment to delivering high-quality 5G-powered services.
The company’s 5G rollout timeline began in 2022 with license acquisition from the Nigerian Communications Commission. In 2023, MTN moved into pilot testing and infrastructure investment.
By 2024, coverage had expanded to key cities and business hubs.
The company now plans to extend access to more underserved areas throughout 2025 while deepening collaboration with OEMs and regulators.
Beyond the rollout itself, Jack also spoke on the potential of private 5G networks for Nigerian enterprises.
With the ability to offer secure, high-speed, low-latency connectivity, these networks are increasingly being adopted in manufacturing, healthcare, education, and logistics sectors.
The summit’s broader agenda reflected a similar sense of urgency around Africa’s digital future.
Panels and breakout sessions tackled topics ranging from mobile-first product design and regulatory frameworks to the rise of AI in content creation and the realities of funding early-stage tech ventures on the continent.
Speakers from companies like Jumia, Stears and local startups provided perspectives on both the barriers and breakthroughs in building scalable African solutions.
The sessions also sparked conversations about how African businesses are adapting to consumer behaviour shifts and infrastructure limitations.
Telecom
PAT Taps Osi as CEO

Pan African Towers (PAT), a Nigerian infrastructure provider serving 9mobile and Spectranet, has appointed Echezona Osi as chief executive officer.

Echezona Osi
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, company’s, board chairman, explained in a statement that Osi would succeed Oladipo Badru, whose tenure lasted nine months in acting CEO position. Osi has more than 28 years of experience in the telecommunications sector across various regions of Africa.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, he had served as the head of network deployment at Airtel Nigeria, operations director and chief technical information officer at MIC Tanzania, chief technology officer roles at IPT PowerTech Nigeria, Rhino Niger Networks and Biswal Nigeria.
He obtained a degree in electrical/ electronic engineering from the University of Benin and a postgraduate diploma in data science and business analytics from the University of Texas.
Telecom
NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service

Companies sending bulk international text messages, also known as Application-to-Person (A2P) messages, will now have apply for a licence that costs N10 million.
This is part of new rules introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aimed at cleaning up the system, fighting fraud, blocking spam messages and stopping money from leaving the country unchecked.
These A2P messages are the kind customers get from banks, online stores, hospitals and political campaigns, automated texts sent from apps to their phones.
According to the commission, the bulk international text message system has been poorly regulated, allowing misuse and invasion of privacy.
“The International SMS Service Ecosystem in Nigeria has not been fully brought under regulatory control. It has been observed that the excessive use of the Short Message Service has led to fraud, spam and illegal activities,” the NCC said.
The regulator warned that without action, the problem would worsen as more people use mobile phones and digital services.
To solve this, the NCC is creating a central platform, or gateway, through which all international bulk text messages must pass through.
The agency said this would help to monitor messages in real time, ensure proper fees are paid, and make sure the money stays in Nigeria where it can contribute to the economy.
As part of the incoming change, service providers must follow strict rules, including strong data protection, spam filters, and message encryption.
Also, they must also work with local mobile networks and make sure all messages come from a verified sender
The NCC warned that any message without a proper sender ID will be blocked and not delivered to users.
To protect users from unwanted texts, the new rules say companies must get clear permission before sending any promotional content.
The rule also says people must also be able to choose whether they want to receive such messages or not.
Companies are now required to keep records of all messages for at least six months and must clearly state all charges involved.
The NCC said fees for help requests, cancellations, or service info must be transparent and not include hidden charges.
The commission will issue licences to several providers to encourage healthy competition but may limit new licences if needed.
Only companies that show they can stop fraud and safely deliver messages will be allowed to operate. They must also regularly report their message traffic and finances to the NCC.
It warned that any company that breaks the rules risks getting fined, suspended, or having its licence revoked.
Offences like charging illegal tariffs, ignoring security rules, or avoiding taxes will be punished, the NCC said.
The commission added that the new rules follow the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and support the federal government’s goal of strengthening cybersecurity and controlling Nigeria’s digital space.
The framework will also be reviewed from time to time to keep up with new technology and market trends.
- Broadcasting2 days ago
Nigeria Week Ahead: Inflation, Oil and Naira in focus
- News2 days ago
EFCC: Accusations Against Our Chairman Are Baseless and Misleading
- Telecom1 day ago
MTN Nigeria Targets $1Bn Cloud Market with Largest Modular Data Centre
- Telecom1 day ago
NCC Introduces N10m Licence Fee for Bulk SMS Service
- E-Business1 day ago
Firm Highlights Top Risks of Quantum Computing
- General News1 day ago
AM Best Reaffirms Stable Outlook for Cyber Insurance Market
- General News1 day ago
Burna Boy Distances Himself from Meme Coin, Labels Crypto as Fraud
- Telecom1 day ago
PAT Taps Osi as CEO