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Numerous MTN Nigeria subscribers have taken to social media to decry the telecom’s decision to bar their telephone lines over NIN-SIM linkage without prior warning. Many users of the South African telephone service provider woke up to the reality that they could not make or receive telephone calls or access the Internet. 
An affected subscriber, Shina, informed Technext that he became aware of his line’s status when he tried to make a telephone call early in the day: “I just heard a voice prompt that informed me that my line has been barred because I failed to link my NIN to my line. It also told me to visit the nearest MTN shop to reconnect my line”, the source added. 
This reflects the experience of many other subscribers who have taken particularly to social media platform, X to complain. Many users indicated that they noticed the action in the early hours of this morning. Most of them claimed that they had completed the linkage exercise in the past with pieces of evidence. 
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Our source corroborated their sentiment. According to him, he became an MTN subscriber after the NIN-SIM linkage crisis of 2022. He recalled that he provided his NIN number as part of the required steps for joining the MTN network during the onboarding process. 
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“I remember that asked me to write down my NIN number as part of the porting process from my previous network. I even. recall that the process could not be completed the same day because they claimed that the NIMC portal was down. I do not understand how that exercise does not qualify as an NIN-SIM linkage”, he shared. 
Some subscribers are alleging (maybe hoping) that this is possibly a technical hitch from the network provider’s system that will fixed anytime soon. “I believe that is a temporary issue that will be fixed soon”, Judy A said on X. 
On the contrary, some subscribers are suggesting that this might be the cause for a switch to another network service provider. “Seeing My MTN trending with complains of users that they have been bared/blocked . For whatever reason it could be, It is their loss”, <a href="https://x.com/_realkingsley" target="_blank">@_realkingsley</a> said on X. 
MTN is yet to issue an official statement on the development. 
Read also: <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/06/26/nin-data-minister-nimc-ndpc-investigate/">NIN data for N100: “Minister of Interior, NIMC, NDPC investigating breach”- Minister of Communications, Bosun Tijani says</a> 
<h4 id="mtn-nin-sim-linkage-all-you-need-to-know" class="wp-block-heading">MTN, NIN-SIM linkage: All you need to know</h4> 
In February, the Nigerian telecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) restated its instruction to telecom operators, emphasizing the necessity to block sim cards of telephone subscribers who haven’t linked their National Identification Numbers (NINs) by February 28, 2024. 
The directive to telecom operators to block SIM cards not linked to National Identification Numbers (NINs) follows a similar directive in 2020. According to the government, the decision was necessitated by the unremitting terrorist attacks, kidnapping and banditry across states in the country at the tail of President Buhari’s administration. 
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 The immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim
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The government changed the deadline eight times between December 2020 and April 2022 to allow more citizens to comply. 
Then Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami noted that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 Million new NINs within the period. According to him, of the 198,123,431&nbsp;subscribers in the country at that time, over&nbsp;<a href="https://technext24.com/2022/02/07/nimc-blames-service-partner-for-downtime-telco-banking-services-affected/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">125 million SIM holders</a>&nbsp;had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. 
That means that about 73 million SIMs were yet unliked. The minister, at that time, noted that enrolment for the NIN is a continuous exercise and reemphasised NIN as a precondition for service in Telcos, banks, Nigerian Immigration Service, and several other government services. 
A few months after his emergency as the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/02/28/ncc-mtn-others-block-sims-without-nin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restated its commitment</a> to the NIN-SIM linkage exercise by ordering MTN, Glo and Airtel to block SIMs not linked with NIN. 
The EVC addressed this matter during the ongoing 45th Kaduna International Trade Fair. Represented by Mr. Reuben Mouka, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Maida stressed the imperative of linking NINs to SIMs for critical national security. He reiterated the February 28th deadline for operators to bar subscribers failing to comply with the directive. 
The order also added that those who have submitted their NINs but have not been verified will also be fully barred on or before 29 March 2024. It also indicates that in the instance that less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. 
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Perhaps this exercise by MTN was done in compliance with the order. Recall that the NCC imposed a fine of&nbsp;N1.04 trillion on the telecom giant for non-compliance with a deadline set by the commission to disconnect all non-registered SIM cards. 
The move by NCC followed accusations by mobile phone users that the regulator had failed to bring operators to account for poor services to subscribers. 
Meanwhile, NCC later reduced the fine to<a href="https://nairametrics.com/2015/12/08/ncc-explains-why-mtn-fine-of-n1-04trn-was-reduced/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&nbsp;N780 billion in December 2015,&nbsp;</a>having taken&nbsp;into consideration the interest of the stability of the telecom sector. The fine was further reduced to N330 billion, even as MTN agreed to be listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). These agreements have now been fulfilled by MTN

Subscribers groan as MTN allegedly bar lines over NIN-SIM linkage

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