By Milcah Tanimu
On Sunday, MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecommunications company, disconnected thousands of subscribers’ lines for failing to link their National Identification Number (NIN) before the July 31, 2024, deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
MTN began blocking non-compliant SIM cards in December 2023, according to insiders. However, many MTN users reported that their SIMs were blocked on Sunday despite having linked their NINs.
“I submitted my NIN twice, but my SIM was blocked without prior notice. I’ve used this number for over ten years. Where do I start?” one person told TechCabal. A source familiar with the issue cited incomplete NIN registration or mismatched SIM registration details as potential reasons for the disconnections.
“The name on the SIM registration is different from the one on the NIN. So I need to go and update it,” one MTN customer said, acknowledging that the telecom company had sent multiple notifications before blocking her number.
MTN has not yet commented on the situation.
The disconnections occur amid regulatory pressure on telecom companies to enforce the NIN-linkage policy introduced in December 2020. In February 2024, the NCC mandated that telecom providers block subscribers who failed to link their phone numbers to their NIN by February 28, 2024. This deadline was extended first to April 15, 2024, and then to July 31, 2024.
Gbenga Adebayo, President of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), denied claims that the SIM bans were linked to protests, asserting that the issue stemmed from mismatched NIN-SIM registrations and urging affected customers to complete their registration process.
In March 2024, MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola stated that the company had barred 8.6 million subscribers in compliance with the NCC directive. Although many lines were reactivated, the total number of subscribers decreased by 2 million in Q1 2024.
“We have 8.9 million subscribers undergoing the verification process, and these subscribers fall within the cohort of less than five SIMs linked to an unverified NIN,” Toriola said.
