Telecommunications giant MTN has closed all its stores and service centers throughout Nigeria. The company made this announcement in a brief statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
MTN said: “Yello customer, please be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July 2024.”
The outrage among some subscribers nationwide followed the network provider’s barring of their lines on Sunday. A viral video on social media from Monday depicted a mob demolishing a barricade fence outside the MTN office.
The footage captured a throng of irate subscribers ransacking the telecommunications company’s office in FESTAC Town, Lagos State, as a reaction to the network’s blocking of subscribers over discrepancies between their National Identification Numbers and SIM registrations.
In light of the limited time available for consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed all operators to promptly reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend.
The commission emphasizes that this reactivation is temporary, allowing consumers to properly link their NINs with their SIMs.
The NCC acknowledged that many subscribers were unable to access their phone lines due to difficulties in verifying their NINs, resulting in the blocking of their numbers by telecom service providers, in compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage regulations.
“Telecoms consumers and the public will recall the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.
“Since December 2023, the Commission has reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024 was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details. This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs.
“The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate.
The NIN-SIM linkage policy assists in the verification and protection of users’ identities, while also delivering essential infrastructure that ensures citizens can access the advantages of a strong digital economy.
“The consumer is our priority; therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs. Reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM
