By: Mercy Peter
The Nigerian Communications Commission, Monday 29 July 2024 directed the immediate reactivation of mobile phone lines blocked at the weekend by telecommunication companies.
NCC earlier this year put the number of subscribers yet to link their NIN to SIM as 45 million.
Many telecom subscribers had their lines blocked as s a result of NIN-SIM verification issues.
NCC however gave a reprieve with its directive, saying it was to allow the subscribers more time to properly link their NIN with SIM cards.
A statement by Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, said consumers remain their priority, hence the need to give some more time for them to do the needful.
The statement reads:”Over the weekend many telecom subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecom consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs).
“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.”
He therefore urged consumers who are yet to verify their SIMs to do so as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines.
The NCC explained that the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM 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 since 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.”
