SIM-NIN Linkage: Telcos block over 11 million subscribers

Telecom operators, who confirmed this to Daily Trust yesterday, said this was in compliance with the directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, had earlier yesterday reiterated the commission’s directive to telecom operators to block phone lines not linked to NINs by February 28, 2024.

He spoke in Kaduna at the NCC’s Special Day during the ongoing 45th Kaduna International Trade Fair.

Maida, represented by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, said as a matter of critical national security, telecom consumers must link their SIMs to their NINs.

This is despite an injunction by the Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday banning telecom operators from deactivating or terminating any phone line or SIM card not linked to the user’s National NIN.

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa insured the injunction following an application by a Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, seeking to prohibit the respondents–the Federal Government, the Attorney-General of the Federation, MTN, NCC and Airtel from deactivating, barring or restricting SIM cards or phone lines on February 28, 2024, or any other scheduled date, pending a decision by the Appeal Court. The NCC and the telecom operators have yet to appeal the court decision.

The federal government had, on December 16, 2020, introduced the SIM-NIN synchronization with the assurance that it would enable security agencies to track criminals.

The synchronization involves validating the NIN with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and matching the subscriber’s NIN records with the SIM registration information (verification) to ensure proper subscriber’s identification.

Nigerians have raised posers on why the security agencies have not utilized the SIM-NIN linkage to track criminals, especially bandits and kidnappers, who often reach out, via mobile phone lines, to victims’ families who paid huge amounts of money as ransom.

At present, there are 224.7 million active mobile telephone lines in the country, according to the information released yesterday by the NCC on its website.

The spokesman of the NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, told our correspondent yesterday that a total of 104 million NINs had so far been registered as of last week.

The NCC had, last year, given February 28, 2024, as the new deadline for the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to block subscribers without their NINs and those whose NINs had not been verified.

The NCC boss, Maida, on Wednesday reaffirmed that the deadline stood.

“The Commission has directed all telecommunication operators to bar phone lines of subscribers whose lines are not linked to their NINs on or before February 28, 2024.

“As a regulator of the telecommunications sector in the country, the commission carries out its functions to ensure service availability, affordability, and sustainability for all categories of consumers, who are leveraging on ICT/Telecoms to drive personal and business activities,” he said.

A reliable source at the NCC told Daily Trust last night that 11.2 million SIM cards were yet to be linked to their owners’ NINs.

“These 11.2 million lines will all be barred from either calling or receiving calls and will also be denied from accessing service by the telecom operators”, the official stated.

In a statement yesterday, the chairman of the Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr Gbenga Adebayo, said compliance to the NCC’s directive would begin today.

“We have directed all telecommunication companies, and also communicated to our members to implement full network barring on all MSISDNs for which the subscribers have not submitted their National Identity Numbers (NINs) and those without verified NINs.”

Adebayo emphasised that all the affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and bio-data) before their lines would be unbarred.

“The importance of the NIN cannot be over-emphasised. It is crucial for Nigeria’s reliable and sustainable national identity management system. It enables economic inclusion and access to government services and helps address security concerns.

“Supporting the NIN initiative is necessary for a thriving digital economy and a safer society.

“Therefore, our members are committed to implementing the directive as law-abiding corporate citizens who highly support the government’s objective to build a digital economy.

“We, therefore, wish to appeal to esteemed subscribers to kindly enroll for NINs or submit their NINs through the appropriate channel advertised by members to avoid full suspension of services by the set deadlines.

“This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024.

“About NINs that have been submitted but not verified, such lines are to be barred on or before 29 March 2024, where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.

“Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. All affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and bio-data) before their lines are unbarred.

“The current directive is a follow-up to the NCC’s directive of April 2022 requiring operators to restrict outgoing calls (one-way barring) for subscribers whose lines are not associated with NINs.

“We encourage affected subscribers to submit their NINs for verification,” the statement said.