MTN Nigeria on Tuesday announced the closure of its shops across Nigeria, asking its customers to use its digital channels for any support they may need.
Although the company did not give any reason for the closure, this may not be unconnected with the eruption of violence at some of its shops on Monday as customers besieged its support centres to unbar their lines that have been blocked over NIN-SIM linkage issues.
Recall that millions of lines were barred by all telecom operators including Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile over the weekend in line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In a short notice to its subscribers posted on its Customer Care handle on X, MTN said:
“Please, be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July. We are available 24/7 to support you via our digital channels.”
The company, however, did not state if the shops would be reopened after today.
Violence at MTN’s shops
At MTN’s shop in Festac Lagos, subscribers seeking to unbar their lines became violent and destroyed the fence of the building.
Also at its shop in Maitama, Abuja, angry subscribers were reportedly banging and hitting the gate of the facility, and threatening that the planned nationwide protest would start from MTN’s premises.
In Oyo State, reports show that thousands of MTN users besieged the company’s Idi-Ape office in Ibadan, the State’s Capital, protesting the sudden blockage of their SIMs. Trending videos circulating online show crowds of frustrated customers sending MTN staff members home in response to the disruption.
NCC’s intervention
Meanwhile, to avert a nationwide crisis, the NCC on Monday afternoon ordered all telecommunication companies in the country to reactivate all lines they have barred over issues surrounding the linking and verification of NIN linked with their SIMs.
While noting that the objectives of the NIN-SIM linkage exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria are to enhance national security and ensure the national SIM ownership database is accurate, the Commission said it is giving the affected subscribers more time to properly link their SIMs.
“The consumer is our priority, therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to 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 SIMs,” the telecom regulator said in a statement issued by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
What you should know
Although all telecom operators implemented the SIM blockages, more MTN customers were affected since the company has the largest active customers in Nigeria. As of March this year, MTN’s active subscriptions stood at 81.7 million, while the closest operator, Airtel, had 63.3 million subscriptions, according to NCC’s data.
Globacom had 62.1 million active subscriptions while 9mobile’s subscriptions database stood at 11.6 million.
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.
- Since December 2023, the NCC has reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024, was set as the deadline for the full network barring 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.
- Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, the telecom operators have had to debunk widely spreading rumours that the latest barring of SIMs was an attempt to frustrate the planned protest billed to start August 1.
- According to them, it was just a coincidence that the barring of lines by telecommunications companies was coming at a time when some Nigerians were preparing for a protest. Some youth groups are planning a nationwide protest from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10, to demand solutions to the rising cost of living and economic hardship in the country.
