We did not bar mobile lines because of protest- Telecom operators

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has said the barring of some Nigerian mobile lines has no connection with the planned protest.

The mobile lines of some Nigerians were barred over the weekend for failing to link their lines with their National Identification Numbers NIN. The owners of some of the affected lines alleged that they were barred due to the upcoming Nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernace and scheduled to begin on Thursday, August 1, 2024.

However, ALTON in a joint statement on Monday, July 29, denied that some Nigerian mobile lines were barred to prevent them from taking part in the protest.

“The attention of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has been drawn to some online reports linking the ongoing subscriber line barring exercise, with the planned national protest.

“There’s absolutely no connection between the two. The NIN/SIM link registration deadline has earlier been set for 31st July, 2024”, the statement signed by ALTON chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, and its Executive Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga, said.

“The fact of the matter, ALTON said, is that the harmonisation exercise of the SIM Registration database and National Identity Database has been ongoing for several months and it is aimed at improving the integrity of the National SIM registration database.

It said customers who had their lines blocked recently are those whom their service providers found a mismatch between their records on both databases.

“We advise such customers to contact their service providers through communicated channels for resolution of the issue. However, all operators have put in place measures to ensure that anyone whose line is blocked can unblock it by following some easy steps.

1. Airtel: Dial *121# and input your eleven digit NIN number. The subscriber will receive a confirmation message that you have successfully unbarred your Airtel Sim card.

2. EMTS: 9Mobile: Dial *200*8#

3. Glo: Dial *109*Your NIN number# For example if your NIN 12345678901, you would dial *109*12345678901# Then follow the prompts to submit your NIN for linkage.

4. MTN: If a MTN line is barred, all the subscriber need do is visit nin.mtn.ng, to check the NIN status, and if not linked, proceed to link it. During the process, an OTP would be requested, as well as the NIN. After giving consent and submitting the NIN linking request, it will be done and the line will be automatically unbarred.

5. Smile: Send your valid NIN to [email protected] or call 07020444444, you will be asked to provide consent, upon receipt of customer consent and successful verification of NIN, the line will be unbarred.

6. Spectranet: Call toll free line 8002345678 and submit your NIN but will have to get your KYC done at Spectranet Store. Customer can email us at [email protected] and submit their NIN but will have to submit their KYC at Spectranet Store. Customer can go to Spectranet website and submit their NIN online but to complete the process they will have to do KYC at Spectranet Store.

7. Ntel: Customer should visits any Ntel store with their NIN, fingerprint is used to call up their existing KYC profile with Ntel for verification, consent is received and line is updated and unbarred.”

It said in case these online steps fail, subscribers can physically visit any walk-in centres of operators, to unblock their lines.

The telecom association said it is committed to supporting the government of Nigeria, and upholding the rights of citizens.

“As an industry, we respect and commit to protecting the rights of all people to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications”, it said.