Irish ‘hacktivist’ takes down Nigerian government website over anti-gay bill
An Irish hacker opposed to Nigeria’s stance on homosexuality, has attacked the country’s official government website in protest of the “anti-gay” bill which seeks to further criminalise gay people.
The attack happened on Thursday night and normal service only returned to the site several hours later.
The Irish “hacktivist”, Paddy Hack, posted to Twitter last night: “I’ve allowed https://Nigeria.gov.ng to come back to full service for now…Don’t think that I can’t come and go as I please.”
A message left on the hacked website gave the president 72 hours to “renounce and veto this Bill.”
“Failure to follow our order will unleash a torrent of fury aimed directly at the direction of your administration, starting with some startling but unsurprising evidence of corruption in your ranks,” the message continued.
The hacker added: “No need to start destroying evidence. I already have it.”
The hacked website, Nigeria.gov.ng, is the official website of the Nigerian government. It is the equivalent of UK’s gov.uk and it is managed by Nigeria’s information ministry.
The Thursday night attack was a continuation of an #opNigeria the attacker launched on July 1. Despite announcing his intention hours before hijacking the website, Nigeria’s Information Ministry’s web administrators were unable to stop the attack.
“Just over two hours to launch of #OpNigeria,” the attacker announced on his Twitter feed.
Following the attack, the hacker has denied reports that he is gay, stating: “So the news says that I am gay? I’m not, but it’s not an insult to be called gay either.”
He also said: “Keep getting asked why I’m pro LGBT? I prefer the term ‘anti hate’. This was not LBGT sanctioned. Blame me, not them.”
