The National Emergency Management Agency has alerted the public to an unauthorised breach of its official website by suspected hackers.

The agency, responsible for disaster management, disclosed this in a statement posted on its X handle on Friday.

The statement read, “The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has been alerted to an unauthorized breach of its official website by suspected hackers.

“The Agency is currently taking necessary technical measures to rectify the breach, secure the platform, and restore normal operations.”

NEMA advised members of the public to disregard any suspicious content or fraudulent requests for money that may appear on the compromised website.

“In the meantime, the general public is strongly advised to disregard any suspicious content, misleading information, unauthorized announcements, or fraudulent solicitations for money that may appear on the compromised website or be circulated through related channels,” the statement read.

NEMA expressed regret over any inconvenience caused by the incident and assured the public that efforts were ongoing to resolve the issue promptly and strengthen the security of its digital platforms.

This latest incident highlights ongoing cybersecurity vulnerabilities affecting Nigerian government institutions.

The Foundation for Investigative Journalism had reported on May 3 that NEMA failed to fix the hijacking of its webpages by an unknown user who publishes betting games and anti-ageing creams content.

Checks by PUNCH Online on Friday showed that users are automatically redirected to promotional betting sites and other unauthorised content upon visiting the site’s homepage.

Some of the redirects lead to betting platforms such as Stake, where users wager on sports with real money, and 1XBet, an online gambling company.

The agency did not provide details of the suspected breach or indicate whether sensitive data had been compromised. (The PUNCH)

Update news