Nigerian man drags internet provider after 23GB disappears in 24 hours

A Nigerian man has publicly accused an internet provider of theft after over 23GB of data disappeared from his account within just 24 hours even though he only used his phone. He detailed his frustrations in a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter).

He explained that he had subscribed to a data plan months ago, yet he noticed his data balance depleting rapidly, despite not engaging in activities like streaming movies or other heavy data usage. In one of his initial posts, he vented, saying:

“You are criminals!!!! Another update! I just checked my data usage on my laptop for the past 30 days! I only use my laptop and my phone — nothing else! My laptop has only used 19.83GB! Are you telling me I used over 290GB on my phone in February???”

He later added another update:

“Update!! I didn’t watch any movies, didn’t connect my MiFi to my laptop for anything! Just my phone!! Less than 24 hours and they are saying I’ve used over 23GB! You are robbers!!!!!”

His posts quickly sparked a wave of responses from concerned users who shared similar experiences and voiced their anger. For example:

@FlexxRichie: “ I also did 150GB sub two days ago after I exhausted the 300GB in less than 2 weeks. MTN is really draining our data intentionally.”

@Sageof_web3: “I’d advise even my enemy to use Starlink. If you can’t afford to buy it, look for someone around you who does and offer to pay 20k or 15k a month for the password—it will work definitely.”

@OG_BENZEMA_: “@MTNNG you are steadily stealing from us, what are we supposed to do? You raise data prices yet we can’t enjoy the worth of our data! You’re mad!”

@fawunmiolamide: “I did 300GB on my HynetFlex on 15th February. As of today, I have 104GB. How did I use 196GB in 2 weeks FFS? @MTNNG, you guys have some explaining to do!”

@OdogwuAbia1: “No amount of TikTok or Instagram can zap data that fast, unless someone’s watching YouTube videos in 1080p or higher. Still, it’s doubtful for 23GB to vanish in under 24 hours. But it’s not MTN’s fault—it’s due to the government-imposed tariff by APC.”

@Rmdcrux: “Maybe we should get some people to follow this up and file a class action against them. Social media isn’t enough—take it to the industrial court. Mr. Bosun hasn’t said anything either.”