With just 48 hours left until a nationwide protest against economic hardship in Nigeria, telecommunications companies have faced widespread backlash from Nigerians.
The discontent erupted after major telecom operators, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo, and 9Mobile, disconnected thousands of subscribers who failed to comply with the National Identity Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) linkage directive set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The disconnections, carried out in compliance with NCC’s directive, sparked outrage among subscribers, who accused the telcos of deliberately disrupting services to sabotage the planned protests, slated for August 1-10, 2024.
Prominent Nigerian lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, accused the telecom companies of intentionally restricting services.
He claimed, “From all indications, it would seem that the underlying target of the telecom companies is to limit the reach of their customers in order to restrict access and thus frustrate the protest.”
However, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators in Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, dismissed these allegations as baseless.
He stated, “Both those for and against the protest are our subscribers, so if we try to frustrate it, whose interest will we be serving?”
Despite Adebayo’s reassurances, the situation escalated, with protests erupting in various cities, including Lagos, Abuja, Warri, and Oshogbo.
In Festac Town, Lagos, angry subscribers stormed the MTN service center, causing significant damage to property.
Eye-witnesses reported that protesters pulled down gates and barricades, venting their frustrations over the disconnection.
In Oshogbo, Osun State, hundreds of affected subscribers marched to the offices of different telecom operators.
Many of them, including elderly and pregnant individuals, complained of waiting hours without receiving assistance to unblock their SIM cards.
One resident, Mr. Ismail Ademola, noted that subscribers had been lining up since 8 a.m. without being attended to.
Another subscriber, Ifeoluwa Dayo, lamented, “I left my children at home since 7 a.m. in Ikirun, Ifelodun local government area of the state only to get here and be told that I should come back another day in this period of high transport fare.”
The protests caused significant disruptions, with demonstrators blocking roads and creating traffic gridlocks.
Viral videos circulating online showed scenes of frustration and chaos as subscribers demanded immediate resolution to the disconnections.
In response, the NCC issued a directive urging telecom operators to reactivate all disconnected lines temporarily, allowing consumers additional time to verify their NINs.
The commission emphasized the importance of the NIN-SIM linkage in enhancing national security and maintaining an accurate national SIM ownership database.
“The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate,” the NCC stated.
ALTON confirmed compliance with the NCC’s directive and began reactivating the barred lines.
However, Engr. Adebayo cautioned that while some lines would be reactivated immediately, others might take up to 24 hours due to network behavior.
He also condemned the destruction of telecom facilities, noting that repairing the damage would incur substantial costs and potentially affect service quality.
