The Nigerian Army has raised the alarm over an attempted unauthorised access to its official X (formerly Twitter) account, describing the incident as a cybersecurity breach.
The Army said it detected the attempted breach at about 5pm on Saturday, and had commenced measures to secure the account and prevent further unauthorised access.
Appolonia Anele, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday.
According to her, the Army was “actively responding” to the incident, while immediate technical and protective measures had been activated to safeguard the account and ensure the integrity of information published through the platform.
“The incident, which occurred at about 1700 hours (5pm) on Saturday, 29 August 2026, is being treated as a cybersecurity breach,” the statement said.
It explained that the measures being implemented were aimed at securing the affected account, preventing further unauthorised access and protecting the Army’s official communication channels from the dissemination of false or misleading information.
The Army assured members of the public, the media and other stakeholders that efforts were ongoing to fully secure the account and restore exclusive administrative control.
It, however, urged members of the public to exercise caution while the incident was being resolved, particularly in assessing information appearing on the affected X account.
“In the interim, the public is advised to exercise caution and disregard any suspicious, unauthorised, misleading or unverified content emanating from the affected account, as such content does not represent the official position of the Nigerian Army,” it said.
The Army said it remained committed to maintaining information integrity, operational security and responsible strategic communication despite the attempted breach.
It consequently advised journalists, media organisations and members of the public to verify information attributed to the Army through its other official communication platforms until the X account is fully secured.
The alternative official channels listed by the Army include its Facebook accounts, @hqnigerianarmy and @nigerianarmyinfo, as well as its Instagram accounts with the same handles.
On X, the Army said members of the public could also rely on @nigerianarmyinfo for verified information.
The Army further listed its official YouTube channels as @hqnigerianarmy and @nigerianarmyinfotv.
The military urged members of the public and the media to remain vigilant against potentially misleading content that may be published through the affected account during the period of the security incident.
“The Nigerian Army appreciates the vigilance, understanding and cooperation of the public and will provide further updates as necessary,” the Army said.
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