The website of Osun Ddefender, http://www.osundefender .org/ , has been hacked and shut down by hackers suspected to be working on the directive of the Presidency and the Peoples democratic Party (PDP).

Information at the disposal of Osun Ddefender revealed that the server and the Internet Protocol (IP) address used by the hackers were traced to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It was gathered that the hackers had introduced malicious content into the web root of the site, using it to hack into the site and subsequently shut it down last week Thursday.

One of the ICT experts managing the website, who spoke under condition of anonymity for security reasons, said: "Last week Thursday, we received a call from the host company of Osun Defender website from California that the website has been hacked and shut down.

"The company said some malicious contents were introduced to webroot of the website by some hackers, who used a masked server for the hatchet job. The company said it traced the IP address of the system used by the hackers to FCT. "The company could no longer track down the server to a specific location because it was masked...

The only enemy we have in Abuja is the presidency and the PDP. I must also say that the hackers are not ordinary persons. They have access to sophisticated equipment."

The expert added:

"There are strong suspicions that the hackers were operating under the directive of the Presidency and that they were likely to be security agents trained for hacking systems and servers.

"The hackers are trying to wipe out the historical content, that is, the content of the website from 2006 till the time it was shutdown. We are trying to get the website back but the hackers are frustrating our steps. However, we will restore the website anytime from now."

Before it was shut down, Osun Defender website was the third most-visited newspaper site in Nigeria with over 250,000i visitors per day. Averagely, on daily basis, the website moderated 10,000 comments on its contents. Investigation revealed that there had been upsurge in the traffic of Osun Defender website since the reelection of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for another four years in office.

The site, before the August 9, 2014 governorship election, was on the sixth position, but the site traffic suddenly increased between the election period and the time the election petition tribunal delivered its judgment on the petition filed against Aregbesola by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore.

The upsurge in the website's traffic awarded it the third position with Premium times and Vanguard Newspaper being the first and second respectively.

Reacting to the incident, the Managing Editor, Osun Defender newspaper, Mr Kola Olabisi, decried the incident, describing as an attack on the press. Olabisi said the shutdown of the website could only be traced to the PDP and presidency, who do feel offended by the content of the newspaper website. He said: "The rise in the traffic and popularity of Osun Defender website has become a threat to the Federal Government and the PDP. The medium website has risen to a prominent state and it has become the voice of opposition in Nigeria.

"The website is shaking the Presidency and the PDP with its campaign for positive change. Osun is committed to ensuring that good governance is restored in Nigeria and we cannot be dissuaded from the cause. "No matter how the threat and intimidation", we can never be gagged.