The government of Osun State in Nigeria has shut down a number of base stations of mobile operator MTN in the region, following the South African-owned company’s failure to pay outstanding taxes and fees. Local newspaper This Day cites a statement from acting chairman of the Osun State Internal Revenue Service, Dayo Oyebanji, as saying that the decision to shut the operator’s base stations was taken after pursuing all other necessary steps, including consultations with MTN. He added that the debt includes outstanding taxes, fees and charges regarding base stations, totalling around NGN207.6 million (USD1.26 million), and right of way fees for laying fibre-optic cables (NGN135.7 million).
30 May 2014
