Barely 48 hours to the planned nationwide protest against hardship in the country, telecom operators (telcos) in Nigeria, have borne the brunt of angry Nigerians, after they complied with the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC’s deadline to bar numbers not properly linked with the National Identity Number, NIN.
No sooner the telcos, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile, disconnected thousands of subscribers who they said didn’t comply with the NIN-SIM linkage directive, than angry Nigerians stormed their offices across the country to vent their frustrations, accusing the telcos of deliberate efforts to shut down their networks as a way of sabotaging the planned protest slated between August 1-10, 2024.
Trouble started when a prominent Nigerian lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, in a statement, Sunday, accused the telcos of trying to frustrate the planned protest by deliberately restricting services and incessantly barring subscribers’ numbers.
Adegboruwa alleged that: “From all indications, it would seem that the underlying target of the telecom companies is to limit the reach of their customers in order to restrict access and thus frustrate the protest.”
However, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators in Nigeria, ALTON, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, dismissed the allegation describing it as laughable. Adebayo said the social and economic contract with the people to provide services which are critical to their lives, at all times, would not permit his members to do as they were accused.
For him, “both those for and against the protest are our subscribers, so if we try to frustrate it, whose interest will we be serving?” he queried.
But, despite the denial, protests against massive call barring continued yesterday with operators facilities in some parts of Lagos, Abuja, Warri, Oshogbo and other parts of the country damaged.
Eye witness account, recounted that angry subscribers pulled out the gates and barricades of MTN service centre in 23 Road, Festac Town and damaged unquantifiable amount of properties.
Protests in Festac, Oshogbo, others
Also in Oshogbo, Osun State, hundreds of subscribers, on Monday trooped out to protest the action of telcos in barring their lines.
The protesters marched to the offices of different telecom operators in the state, particularly Dada estate, Head office of MTN Nigeria in the state.
Many of the protesters claimed to have arrived the MTN office since 6.00 am with a view to unblocking their barred SIM cards but could not get quick services.
The protesters also blocked the Osogbo-Iwo Road leading to Oke-Fia area of the state capital, thereby disrupting traffic and creating gridlock in the area.
The customers consisting of old men, women, pregnant women and others, including civil servants appeared visibly angry over refusal to be attended to by the workers in the office.
According to a resident of Dada estate, Mr Ismail Ademola who was affected by the blockage, subscribers had lined up since 8am but could not be attended to after several hours.
Another customer, Ifeoluwa Dayo, said, “I left my children at home since 7am in Ikirun, Ifelodun local government area of the state only to get here and be told that I should come back another day in this period of high transport fare.”
Security operatives, especially DSS officials were later called in to calm the rising tension.
The situations in Festac and Oshogbo were just few out of many in the Telcos’ offices in major cities, including Obalende, Victoria Island, Mushin and Ikeja in Lagos State,; Onitsha in Anambra State, Uyo in Akwa Ibom State and Warri in Delta State.
Viral videos online show protesters venting their frustration and anger over the sudden disconnection. The protests highlight the frustration and disruption caused by the mass disconnection, with many subscribers demanding a resolution to the issue.
NCC reacts
Meanwhile, the telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has directed all operators to urgently reactivate all lines that were disconnected since the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their National Identification Numbers, NINs with their Subscriber Identity Module, SIMs.
The commission said the reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.
NCC said: “At the weekend many 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). This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.
“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 aids in verifying and protecting users’ identities while also providing a critical infrastructure that assures access to the benefits of a robust digital economy for the citizenry.
“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.
“Members of the public who are yet to verify their SIMs are encouraged to do so as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines,” the commission added.
