Nigerian Government decision to ban the popular microblogging website  Twitter, has in the last 100 days resulted in the country losing N247.61 billion during that period, according to the renowned Internet Observatory site NETBLOCKS.

The Federal Government suspended Twitter on June 4 after the President,  Muhammadu Buhari, had a post deleted by the social media network.

After obtaining a mandate from the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, telecoms restricted access to Twitter on June 5.

On this, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria had said, “We, The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry regulator, to suspend access to Twitter.

“ALTON has conducted a robust assessment of the directive in accordance with internationally accepted principles.”

The blockade damages Nigeria’s economy N103.17 million ($250,600) every hour, according to NetBlocks’ Cost of Shutdown Tool.

Since the FG banned Twitter, it’s been 2,400 hours.

The Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed recently stated that the Federal Government was close to reaching an agreement with Twitter and that the ban would be lifted soon. 

Nigeria has joined a select group of countries that have banned Twitter, including China, Iran, and North Korea. Virtual Private Networks have become more popular since the ban.