NCC Orders Telcos to Reactivate Disconnected Lines, as ALTON Distances Action from Planned Protest

Emma Okonji

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered the immediate reactivation of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards that were barred at the weekend by telecoms operators.

NCC gave the order, following the massive disconnection of lines at the weekend and the subsequent large crowd of subscribers who thronged customer call centres across the country to get their lines re-connected.

Meanwhile, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has issued a statement, distancing the action of SIM card disconnection from the planned national protest that is billed to begin on Thursday, August 1.

In a statement released Monday by NCC and signed by its Director, Public Affairs, Mr, Reuben Muoka, NCC ordered telecoms operators to immediately reactivate all lines that were affected by the NIN-SIM exercise at the weekend.

According to the NCC statement, “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). 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 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, 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.”

In another statement released by ALTON and jointly signed by its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo and its Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga, the association denied that SIM disconnection exercise at the weekend was in preparation for the planned national protest.

According to ALTON statement, “The attention of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has been drawn to some online reports linking the ongoing subscriber line barring exercise, with the planned national protest.

There’s absolutely no connection between the two. The NIN/SIM link registration deadline has earlier been set for 31st July, 2024.

The fact of the matter is that the harmonization exercise of the SIM Registration database and National Identity Database has been ongoing for several months. This is aimed at improving the integrity of the National SIM registration database. Customers who had their lines blocked recently are those whom their service providers found a mismatch between their records on both databases. We advise such customers to contact their service providers through communicated channels for resolution of the issue.”