A widespread internet disruption linked to global infrastructure provider Cloudflare on Tuesday knocked several major Nigerian news websites offline, leaving millions of readers unable to access timely news and updates.
Prominent platforms including PUNCH Newspapers, Vanguard, Daily Trust, Nairaland, The Nation, The Guardian Nigeria, and Bellanaija were all hit by the outage. Visitors were greeted with Cloudflare error messages as the sites struggled to load.
The blackout came at a particularly sensitive moment, with Nigeria dealing with multiple high-profile developments — from the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi State to internal tensions within the PDP faction in Abuja.
For many Nigerians who depend on established media houses as their most trusted source of verified information, the shutdown forced a sudden shift to social platforms and blogs — raising fresh concerns about misinformation and the reliability of alternative news sources.
Beyond audience access, the outage also dealt a blow to newsroom metrics. Major publications that rely heavily on daily page views and web traffic experienced steep drops in engagement, which may have affected revenue projections for the day.
In response, outlets such as PUNCH, Vanguard, and The Nation turned to X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram to push headline updates. But even that backup channel was disrupted, as X itself briefly went down due to Cloudflare-related issues — further complicating the flow of information nationwide.
Cloudflare acknowledged the problem on its status page, saying it was “working to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem,” while also noting that ongoing maintenance in its Santiago, Chile data center might have contributed to the disruption and increased latency.
The outage triggered widespread online reactions as users struggled to access their favorite platforms.
Nairaland founder Seun Osewa confirmed the interruption, writing on X: “Nairaland experienced downtime earlier today due to a service disruption at Cloudflare. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Social media users echoed the frustration.
One Facebook user, Abiodun Ogundairo, wrote: “The whole news website in Nigeria and most part of the world is down. Cloudflare crashed. X is also down.”
Another commentator noted the ripple effect: “Thought I had been banned. It seems Elon is also getting service from Cloudflare. Even my job website was down today.”
Even lifestyle and entertainment sites like Bellanaija, which attract significant local and diaspora traffic, were inaccessible for hours — cutting off users from pop culture and entertainment content.
Though normal access gradually returned later in the day, the incident highlights a stark reality: Nigeria’s media ecosystem is deeply dependent on global internet infrastructure, and a single point of failure can disrupt information flow across the entire country.
The disruption serves as a reminder of the growing vulnerability of newsrooms and digital platforms to international technical issues — and the need for more resilient systems as audiences increasingly rely on online sources for breaking news and national updates.
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