The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Monday, July 29, 2024, directed all telecom operators in the country to immediately 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 SIM.
The NCC said that the consumer remain its priority, stressing that considering the challenges the blockages have caused, adding however that reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.
The Commission in a statement by Reuben Mouka, Director of Public Affairs, noted that 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).
It said that the development meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.
It reminded Telecoms consumers and the public that the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.
According to the NCC; “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.
“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 NCC said.
The Commission therefore urged members of the public who are yet to verify their SIMs to do so as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines.
