NIN-SIM Linkage: Affected subscribers count losses

By Ibrahim Adeleke

Mobile network subscribers whose lines were bar from making calls have started lamenting as they counted their losses.

On Tuesday, April 5, many Nigerians woke up to notice call bar on their mobile phones – they could only received calls but could not make calls.

It was later discovered that they had not linked their SIMs with their NIN.

The federal government had ordered partial Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) deactivation of all subscribers who had not linked their SIMs with their National Identification Number (NIN).

The affected subscribers have since thronged the offices of the telecoms companies to to find solution to their lines after discovering the reason why they could not make calls on their phones even when they have sufficient airtime.

After several extensions, the Federal Government had, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), ordered telecoms operators to bar subscribers on their networks that have not linked their SIMs to their National Identity Number (NIN) from originating calls ostensibly as a prelude to total deactivation.

No fewer than 72.7million lines would be affected by the government ban.

Speaking to New Telegraph, a student of School of Hygiene, Ibadan, Adedamola Alegbeleye, said she lost an opportunity to get a particular equipment at cheaper rate as she could not connect her dad to get the needed money on time.

According to her, someone brought one of the instruments she needed for her learning to her hostel early in the money but could not purchased it when she could not call her dad to send her the money.

She explained that the person was to sell the instrument at about 40% rate reduction.

“One of the challenges I faced when my line was barred from making call was the opportunity I lost getting that instrument at a cheaper rate brought to me.”

Alegbeleye said she could not understand why her line was blocked from making calls, claiming that she had earlier linked her SIM with her NIN.

“I have my NIN and I had linked it with my only MTN line as directed then but I don’t know why it is still barred now. I have also been trying to use *758*NIN# but the network is not okay. May be I will go to their office.”

Damilare Ademola, a raw food supplier told New Telegraph how he missed a customer who was supposed to by food stuff worth of N200,000 from him.

He explained that when he could not call to inform the customer, he (the customer) got the supply elsewhere.

At the MTN office located along Sango-Ojuoore road in Ogun State, one of the affected subscribers, a spare part dealer, who came for rectification complained that he nearly recorded lost on his goods as he could not get to his boys to inform them of the new prices.

The dealer, who simply identified himself as Emmanuel said: “Thank God they had not sold the part before I got to the shop. The person who wanted to buy it went to buy something else and came back to meet me.

“I am a spare parts seller. Normally, when I wake up in the morning, I used to call my boys and give them instructions on what to do for the day. When I tried my MTN line, there was no response. Since I use a dual SIM phone, I switched to my 9mobile and was told: ‘Call not registered on network’. I had to rush to the shop to inform them of the prices of the part I just bought the previous day.”

Emmanuel’s agony was caused by his ignorance and nonchalance according to him.

Asked why, for so long, he refused to link his SIMs with his NIN, he said he did not know how to do it and was too busy to ask people for direction.

It was gathered that frustrated subscribers besieged other network provider offices across the country to get their SIMs linked to be able to make call as the government insist that all SIMs must be linked.

Meanwhile, some affected subscribers blamed their challenges on the high cost of enrolment for NIN for their misfortune as they complained that N2,000 was too high to enroll for something that should have come free.

However, despite the cost of NIN enrolment, people have also besieged enrolment centres to get their NIN.

The NCC has also insisted that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), their licensed agents and telecom subscribers, must comply with the SIM registration, activation and replacement procedures as set out in the Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Registration.

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) also confirmed the receipt of directives from the NCC to bar out-going calls on subscriber lines that are not in compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage policy requirement that SIMs must be linked with a NIN.

Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, however, pledged the support of the operators to the effect the directive of the NCC.

“ALTON members are committed to complying with the instructions and call on telecommunication subscribers who have not obtained and/or linked a NIN to their SIMs, to do so at any of the designated centres.

“We remain committed to supporting the Federal Government and upholding the rights of citizens to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications,” Adebayo said.