The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered telecommunication companies to bar calls from phone numbers that are yet to be linked to their National Identity Numbers (NIN) from Friday, 29 March.

Subscribers whose SIM cards have not been linked to their NINs will not be allowed to make calls until the linkage is done.

Reuben Muoka, the director of public affairs of the commission disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone interview Friday evening.

Mr Muoka said the directive for disconnection is being rolled out in stages, with the second phase set for 29 March as earlier announced.

He said the initial phase took place at the end of February.

“We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.

“29th of February was when those that have not submitted their NIN to be linked to the SIM to be barred and those have been barred.

“We published another deadline for those who have submitted their NIN but it failed because it has not been verified, that is the one that is due for disconnection today. While another set is the ones with ghost verification, these are for those who have more than five numbers,” Mr Mouka said.

A source within the commission who is also familiar with the matter said the commission’s position was hinged on its objective to clean the country’s SIM ownership database.

He explained that the commission is committed to ensuring that criminals do not take advantage of having multiple unlinked SIMs to carry out their nefarious activities.

The Max-4 rule announced by the Federal Government in April 2021 provides that telecom subscribers cannot have more than four lines per mobile network operator.

The NCC has also provided Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) an extension till 31 July, to verify all NINs submitted by subscribers with four or fewer SIMs, as well as bar those whose NINs fail verification with NIMC.

The compulsory linkage began in 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to block calls from unregistered and unlinked lines.

The policy was expected to help the authorities in fighting bandits and terrorists who kidnap and kill innocent people daily. Despite the extension of deadlines, many phone lines are yet to be linked.

culled from Premium Times Nigeria