Breaking: Protest begins as MTN bars lines

Subscribers of MTN have commenced protest at various offices of the telecommunications company to voice their discontent and frustration regarding the company’s decision to block their phone numbers.

MTN blocked access to mobile services for several subscribers on Sunday, citing failure to link their National Identification Numbers (NIN) to their phone numbers as the reason.

According to sources, the move by MTN was in response to a directive from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to deactivate all Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards not linked to a National Identification Number (NIN) by July 31, 2024.

As of the time of filing this report, the telecoms firm was yet to issue an official statement on the controversy. It is unclear how many mobile phone numbers were affected.

Some of the subscribers, in the early hours of Monday, July 29, 2024, arrived at the MTN offices with long queues formed at the entrances.

The latest deadline was extended from April 15, 2024, to July 31.

Despite having already linked their SIM cards to their National Identification Numbers (NINs), many subscribers claim that their lines have still been barred.

The NCC declared on February 29 that a significant 45 million subscribers would be disconnected from services for not linking their SIM cards to their NINs as required.