“MTN’s delay in sim registration caused the loss of 10,000 lives,” Buhari said to South African president Jacob Zuma.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, stated that the reluctance of telecommunications giant, MTN, in deactivating unregistered lines contributed to the killings by the insurgent group, Boko Haram.

Buhari said this during a joint press conference after holding closed door meeting with South African President, Jacob Zuma at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The President also said the severe $5.2 billion fine imposed on MTN was as a result of the security implication of the telecommunication firm’s inaction.

“This is the first time I will be personally as a president making a public comment about it. The concern of the federal government is basically on the security and not the fine imposed on MTN.”

“You know how the unregistered GSM are being used by terrorists. And between 2009 and today, at least 10,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram.”

“That was why NCC asked MTN, Glo and the rest of them to register GSM. Unfortunately, MTN was very, very slow and contributed to the casualties.”