NIDCOM Chair Warns Public Over Hacked Yahoo Email Account
The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has publicly warned that hackers have gained unauthorised access to her personal email account, urging citizens to disregard any messages originating from the compromised address.
In a security notice posted on X on Friday, Dabiri-Erewa identified the affected account as aodabiri@yahoo.com and cautioned that unauthorised messages may be circulated from it. “Please be informed that my email account (aodabiri@yahoo.com) has been compromised by hackers,” she stated.
She further advised recipients to ignore any emails purportedly sent from the account or any related addresses until full control is restored. “Kindly ignore any emails purportedly sent from me using this or any other address until I regain full control of the account,” she added.
Dabiri-Erewa also noted that she may not be able to respond to pending messages during the period of the breach. “I will unfortunately not be able to respond to the thousands of emails that must have accumulated during this period. Thank you for your understanding,” she said.
The development comes amid growing concerns over cybersecurity and impersonation of public officials through compromised digital platforms across Nigeria.
This is not the first time the NIDCOM chairman has faced digital security challenges. Recall in 2023, NIDCOM disclosed that hackers had taken over Dabiri-Erewa’s Twitter account since April 7. In a statement signed by Dabiri-Erewa, the commission stated that all communication from her on social media has been through her Instagram account @abikedabiri.
The commission added that efforts to retrieve the hacked Twitter account had been prolonged by the management of Twitter, who cited ongoing rebranding exercises. It further noted that efforts remain ongoing to ensure the hacked Twitter account is retrieved and the hackers are traced, arrested, and prosecuted accordingly.
Cybersecurity experts have repeatedly warned public officials to strengthen digital security protocols as incidents of account compromise continue to rise across government institutions.