FG Bars 72 Million Nigerians From Making Calls

 

Following a directive from the federal government to telecommunication companies, over 72.77 million active telecommunication subscribers have been barred from making calls on their SIMs.

Recall that the FG had on Monday, April 4, ordered telecommunications companies to enforce compliance with its National Identification Number-Subscriber Identity Module policy.

It asked the companies to restrict all outgoing calls on all unlinked lines as the deadline for the verification expired on March 31.

Telcos have now started complying with the directive.

Recall that Akelicious had reported that Telecommunication companies in Nigeria have been ordered by the federal government to bar all outgoing calls on unlinked lines beginning from Monday, April 4.

The government’s directive is contained in a statement released by Ikechukwu Ayinde, the director, of public affairs in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Part of the statement read:

“It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, gave the directive for the implementation and commencement of the exercise in December 2020, as part of the administration’s security and social policies.

“The deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage have been extended on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians to freely comply with the Policy. The FG also took into consideration the passionate appeals by several bodies – Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Civil Societies, Professional Bodies, and a host of others – for the extension of the deadlines in the past.”