*Benjamin Hundeyin, Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, condemns vandalism of the MTN office in the Festac area of the state, just as the Nigerian Communications Commission directs the country鈥檚 Mobile Network Operators to reactivate all blocked phone lines, to enable subscribers to undertake verification of their NINs with SIM Cards

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

The Nigeria Police has condemned the act of vandalism, which angry telecoms consumers visited on the office of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Monday, July 29, 2024, in the Festac area of Lagos State, over issues related to linkage of their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards, and subsequent blockade of their phone lines by the Mobile Network Operator (MNO).

绿帽献妻 reports Benjamin Hundeyin, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Command, who confirmed the development Monday, condemned the vandalism of the MTN office at 72 Junction, Opposite First Bank, 23 Road, Festac Town, in Lagos State, generally regarded as the commercial hub of the West African country.

It was learnt that a group of aggrieved MTN subscribers, frustrated by the recent blocking of phone numbers due to their non-compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage requirement, had taken to the streets, and damaged the office fence in the process.

A 17-second video shared on X showed a crowd of subscribers breaking into the telecoms giant鈥檚 premises in the area.

The angry crowd was said to have pulled back the iron bars used as security fencing around the premises to access the office building.

Vandalism not the way to go! Lagos Police PRO declares

However, in response to the incident at MTN Festac office, Hundeyin reportedly stated: 鈥淭his should not be the way to go!

鈥淢eanwhile, the DPO FESTAC (in Lagos), and his men responded immediately they got the report. They succeeded in restoring normalcy and are still on the ground to maintain peace.鈥�

NCC directs MNOs to reactivate barred phone lines

In a related development, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Monday, July 29, also directed the country鈥檚 Mobile Network Operators to reactivate all blocked phone lines, to enable subscribers to undertake verification of their NINs with SIM Cards within the 鈥渟hort time available for telecoms consumers.鈥�

Mr. Reuben Muoka, Director Public Affairs (DPA) at NCC, in a statement had acknowledged that over the weekend, several telecoms consumers/subscribers were unable to access their phone lines because of their inability to verify their NINs with their SIM Cards.

The NCC noted that by implication, such consumers鈥� phone numbers were blocked by their telecoms service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage in Nigeria.

The telecoms sector regulatory Commission also reminded telecoms consumers and the general public that the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM had begun December 2020, when the Federal Government of Nigeria directed telecommunications companies to bar 鈥渦nregistered SIM Cards and SIMs that were not linked to NINs.鈥�

The Director of Public Affairs also recalled that since December 2023, the NCC had reviewed the deadline a few times, noting that April 15, 2024, was earlier set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details.

The regulator explained that it again, reviewed the April 15 deadline for NIN-SIM verification to July 31 this year, in order to afford more telecoms consumers additional time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified.

鈥淒espite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs,鈥� Muoka said in the statement.

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