LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Mobile phones have been lifelines for residents of northwestern Nigeria who have relied on warning calls to escape escalating bandit attacks. But recent blockades on mobile telecommunications by authorities have left many rural people cut off and more vulnerable, say residents.
In response to growing violence across Nigeria’s northwest and central states, governors have blocked telecommunications in many areas across five states to enable the military to carry out special operations targeted at the armed groups attacking local communities
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To keep bandits from coordinating attacks that have killed thousands, the Nigerian government has cut off mobile networks in select states. Although authorities say the network blackout reduces the scale of violence, it leaves those still being attacked more vulnerable.