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Nigeria's subscribers kick as carriers bar lines

Telecom subscribers affected by the hasty implementation of Federal Government directive of barring subscriber identity modules (SIMs) not linked to owners National Identity Numbers (NINs) have kick against the decision. 

The subscribers expressed their displeasure in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

It would be recalled that telcos, including MTN, Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile had been directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to implement full network barring on all phone lines for which subscribers had not submitted their NINs and those without verified NINs by February 28, 2024.

The NCC said further NINs that had been submitted but not verified were to be barred on or before March 29, 2024, same as in cases where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.

Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before April 15, 2024.

A visit to some of the telcos customer service centres, subscribers were seen complaining about barred lines at all the telcos outlets but more at the MTN outlets.

The subscribers were displeased that their lines had been barred from making calls even before the Feb. 28 deadline.

Some of them insisted that they had already linked their NINs to their SIM cards as directed by the NCC, so were surprised that their lines were still barred.

A businessman, Mr Marcel Okoh, said a message was sent to his MTN line at the weekend which he did not take serious, because he had done his NIN-SIM linkage.

Okoh said two days after the message was sent, he noticed that his SIM had been disconnected and could no longer recharge or make calls with his phone.

“The disconnection is uncalled for because I have done the needful and I should have been given time to make enquiries.

Similarly, a fashion designer, Aisha Alao, who also uses an MTN line, said she was disconnected by the telco without any notice.

Alao said it was when she got to one of the MTN outlets that the agents explained to her that she needed to do a NIN-SIM linkage.

Also speaking, a retired teacher, Mrs Veronica Maduabunechukwu, said a disconnection notice was sent to her by Airtel, despite having done her NIN-SIM linkage.

“The line has not been disconnected and I see no reason why it should be barred,” she said.

Another MTN subscriber, Mrs Chinenye Agbanusi, said she had done her NIN-SIM linkage as far back as 2020.

Agbanusi said she was not pleased with MTN for barring her line after following due process.

She added that the telco should upgrade its systems, to avoid recurring issues of barring customers that had already done the needful.

A Globacom subscriber, Miss Kanyinsola Oje, said that a notice to link her SIM to NIN to avoid disconnection was also sent to her.

She noted that some days after the notice, her line was barred.

However, during the survey, Miss Nkechi, an Agent in one of the Airtel outlets in Ketu, said that subscribers had been coming to the centre to make complaints about their SIM being disconnected.

Olumide, a Globacom Agent in Ketu, also confirmed that subscribers had been coming to the outlet to lodge complaints about their lines being barred since December 2023.

According to him, most of the subscribers insisted that they had done the NIN-SIM linkage before, but were currently having issues.

Olumide said: “The reason for the disconnection could be that the name the subscriber used in registering for their NIN is different from what they used to register their SIM.

“Another issue could be that the line was reassigned to another subscriber, so the name on the SIM could still be the name of the previous owner.

Reacting to the subscribers’ complaints, the Senior Manager, External relations, MTN, Mr Funsho Aina, said most of the lines that were barred was because no data were found on the lines.

Aina said it was possible that these subscribers had done the NIN-SIM linkage, but the data filed for NIN might not be the same as what they registered for their SIM.

He said a discrepancy in data filed for NIN and for SIM could affect its collation.

“Take for instance, I register my SIM with Funsho, and in registering for the NIN I use Olufunsho, which is also my name.

“Even if I do the NIN-SIM linkage, in collating by the telco, the technology might not be able to link the names to one person and the line would be disconnected until the discrepancy is corrected,” he said.

Aina, however, said in order to correct such discrepancies and be reconnected, there were self-help steps that could be taken.

He urged subscribers to go to the portal: https://nin.mtn.ng/nin, to create a Virtual NIN (VNIN).

“You can also dial *996*3# on your mobile phone.

“Select option three for Virtual NIN, Enter your NIN to proceed, then enter ‘109071’ as your Enterprise ID.

“Or alternatively, dial *346*3*your 11 digit NIN*109071# to create a VNIN,” Aina said.

The MTN official also explained that it seemed as if MTN subscribers were more affected, because MTN had a large number of subscribers than the other telcos.