The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated telecom operators in Nigeria, such as MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, to initiate full network barring on all phone lines without linked National Identification Numbers (NINs) by February 28, 2024. Subscribers who have submitted their NINs but remain unverified are also subject to full barring. MTN Nigeria confirmed this directive in a notice to the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
For NINs that have been submitted but not verified, lines with five or more connections to an unverified NIN are to be barred on or before March 29, 2024. Lines with less than five connections to an unverified NIN will face full barring on or before April 15, 2024. The directive stipulates that all affected subscribers must undergo biometric and biodata verification before their lines can be unbarred.
This development follows the NCC’s previous directive on April 4, 2022, which required operators to restrict outgoing calls (one-way barring) for subscribers without linked NINs. MTN assured that it is actively engaging with affected subscribers through various channels, encouraging them to submit their NINs for verification.
In the notice, MTN expressed its commitment to complying with the NCC directive and collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to expedite the NIN verification process. The company is enhancing its service outlets to facilitate a smoother and more efficient verification process.
MTN urged subscribers yet to link their NINs to their lines to take immediate action by visiting the nearest outlet or using digital channels before the specified deadlines. Those without a NIN were encouraged to enroll at any of the NIMC’s centers nationwide.
Since the announcement of the mandatory NIN-SIM Linkage exercise in December 2020, telecom operators witnessed a loss of over 20 million subscriptions initially. However, as more Nigerians registered for NIN, active subscriptions across the four mobile networks surpassed 200 million as of August. With the new directive, operators may experience a further decline in their database starting from February as millions of restricted lines face full barring.
