THE CENTRE for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a prominent civil society organisation focused on digital rights and information technology advocacy, has disclosed that its official website has been under a sustained Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack for more than a day, rendering the platform inaccessible and causing significant data loss.
In a statement on Saturday, April 25, 2026, CITAD announced that the cyberattack has disrupted access to important organisational data, crippling its ability to communicate with the public, share knowledge, and engage with its community.
The prolonged outage, the statement noted, also resulted in the loss of application records for several of the organisation’s key programmes, including the Bauchi Feminist Internet School (BAFIS), Digital Literacy Training, and Digital Hygiene initiatives.
CITAD described the incident as a serious disruption to its operations and a direct infringement on its digital rights.
The organisation warned that such attacks, particularly as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, raise grave concerns about the vulnerability of civic and democratic spaces online.
In response to the attack, CITAD has issued an urgent call for the unidentified perpetrators to immediately halt the assault.
The organisation is also appealing to the Nigerian Government, relevant cybersecurity agencies, and other stakeholders to step up efforts to secure digital infrastructure and prevent future occurrences.
CITAD also called on human rights bodies, civil society groups, and the media to take note of the incident and support the protection of digital spaces and organisational rights.
For individuals who had already applied for the affected training programmes, CITAD has requested that they kindly refill their applications on the portal once it is fully restored, as all previously submitted records have been lost.
The full text of CITAD’s statement reads as follows:
CITAD Condemns DDoS Attack on Website, Calls for Immediate Halt
Saturday, 25th April, 2026
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) wishes to draw the attention of the general public to a sustained cyberattack on its official website in the form of a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. The website has been inaccessible for over 24 hours, resulting in the loss and disruption of access to important organisational data.
This act represents a serious disruption to our operations and an infringement on our digital rights. It has undermined our ability to impart knowledge, share information, and communicate with our community.
We call for an immediate halt to the attack and urge relevant authorities and stakeholders to support efforts to secure our digital infrastructure and prevent future occurrences.
We also call on human rights organisations, civil society groups, and the media to take note of this incident and support efforts to protect digital spaces and organisational rights.
Furthermore, we urge the government and relevant agencies to strengthen protections against cyber threats and ensure that organisations can operate freely without undue interference. As the 2027 general elections approach, incidents like this raise concerns about the vulnerability of civic and democratic spaces online.
We also appeal to all applicants for the Bauchi Feminist Internet School (BAFIS), Digital Literacy Training, and Digital Hygiene programmes to kindly refill their applications on our portal once it is fully restored, as previously submitted records have been lost due to the incident.
Signed:
YZ Ya’u
Executive Director
