OGUN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- No fewer than 40 million phone lines were over the weekend blocked by telecom operators in Nigeria.
This is coming after the Nigerian Communications Commission set a deadline of February 28, 2024, for telecom users to link the Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, to their National Identity Numbers, NIN.
Compared to the 12 million phone lines that the telcos had originally intended to deactivate in compliance with the NCC mandate, this is a 28 million increase.
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In a December 2023 notice, the NCC had asked telcos to bar SIMs that had not been linked to their owners’ NINs by February 28, 2024.
On Thursday, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, ruled out an extension of the deadline, warning that telcos that failed to enforce the deadline would be sanctioned.
The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, then disclosed to The PUNCH telcos would bar 12 million lines as a result of the directive.
The ALTON head, however, disclosed on Sunday that 40 million lines were blocked, noting that SIMs without NIN were among those affected.