Non-NIN/SIM linkage deactivates 40m phone lines in 5 days
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
More than 40 million telephone lines have been deactivated by telecom operators (telcos) since the deadline on February 28 for subscribers to link their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM) to their National Identity Numbers (NINs) or be barred, as directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
It is an increase of 28 million from the 12 million lines initially planned to be affected after the NCC issued the directive in December 2023.
NCC Public Affairs Director Reuben Mouka last Thursday ruled out an extension of the deadline, warning that telcos that fail to enforce it would be sanctioned.
Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Chairman Gbenga Adebayo who initially estimated 12 million lines would be affected, raised the figure to 40 million at the weekend.
“I can tell you that over 40 million lines have been blocked and the affected customers are those who didn’t submit their NIN at all,” he told The PUNCH.
“Some persons have not presented any NIN to operators. They haven’t registered their SIMs or participated in the harmonisation programme. They simply haven’t made any presentation of the NIN number to their operators and those were the persons blocked.
“So why is the number so alarming despite repeated warnings? It shows many people still communicate but are not registered.”
There are currently 224.7 million active mobile telephone lines nationwide, as disclosed on the NCC website, but Adebayo did not give the breakdown of subscribers or SIMs deactivated by telcos.
“No, we currently don’t have the breakdown of disconnected lines per network right now but I know over 40 million lines have been deactivated.”
More disconnections looming
Adebayo disclosed another series of disconnections will be implemented by the end of March and mid April.
“The second tier of disconnections that will happen are those who have provided NIN but have more than five Mobile Subscription Identification Numbers [MSINs] associated with their NIN, and these have not been verified.
“This is because some have differences in the order of their names, and some have differences in their date of birth.
“The information provided to the operator when they did the SIM registration is different from what they provided [to the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC] when they did their NIN.
“Some subscribers also have some differences in other records that are very critical to their verification process.
“So these people who have more than five MSINs attached to their NIN and haven’t been verified will be disconnected effective March 30, 2024. So we may have more disconnections happening by the end of this month.
“If somebody has given a name that has not been verified and has been receiving text messages to verify and they haven’t done that, by March 30th, those people will be disconnected and the figures will further increase.
“There are two sources of data – primary and secondary. During the first registration process, the customer’s information is on-boarded to a server when everyone did the SIM registration but the secondary record is for details given during NIN [registration].
“Hence your primary record has to be uniform with the secondary data across the platforms before you can be verified.
“Furthermore, for those who have less than five MSINs, by April 15th, they will be disconnected if they don’t harmonise their records before then.
“So we are going to go through a series of disconnections or service suspensions over the next two months if people don’t follow the laid down regulations.”
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NATS may go to court to seek extension of deadline
But National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATS) President Adeolu Ogunbanjo has threatened the body will seek redress in court if the NCC does not extend the deadline.
“We have appealed to the Nigerian Communication Commission to extend the deadline till March 31st. But if this is not done, we will observe the situation for the next three days, that is Monday to Wednesday and if this is not granted, we will have to file a case in court on Thursday.
“We have and [are] still appealing that this deadline be extended. We understand their position concerning security issues but a 31-day extension would not harm anyone and that is why we didn’t ask for three months. The NCC boss should please give us this gift as a resumption gift and not punish subscribers.”
