The WhatsApp number of Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has reportedly been hacked, prompting a warning from his spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji.
The announcement was made in a brief notice sent to the Daily Post by Tunji on Thursday night.
Tunji urged Nigerians to ignore any requests for money or financial assistance originating from the compromised phone number, stating, “HM of power number has been hacked on WhatsApp. Kindly disregard any appeal for money or any assistance for financial support through the number 08022901928.”
This incident follows closely on the heels of similar security breaches involving other government officials.
Just six days prior, the WhatsApp number of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was hacked, and earlier, the same fate befell the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh.
Naijaonpoint recalls that the WhatsApp number of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, in August was also hacked by fraudsters, leading to an attempt to defraud several of his contacts.
The incident came to light when some individuals on the governor’s contact list received messages from his WhatsApp number, requesting that money be sent to a specified account with a promise of a refund later.
In a related incident, Osun State Government, in July issued a public alert on the security breach of Governor Ademola Adeleke‘s official telephone number.