NIN-SIM linkage
•The hammer falls at last
It was bound to happen sooner than later: phone lines whose users are yet to have their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards linked with their unique National Identification Number (NIN) have been partially tossed. The partial deactivation of the lines took effect last Monday to implement a policy unveiled by government in December 2000.
In a joint statement, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) announced that subscribers who had not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage policy as of April 4 were being barred from outgoing calls and must do the needful before telecom operators could lift the restriction on their lines. It was not categorically stated, but the implication of the partial deactivation was that concerned subscribers yet had a leeway to receive calls, use short message services and access online platforms for the time being. According to the regulatory bodies, since December 2020 when the policy was rolled out, holders of over 125million SIMs have submitted their NIN for linkage, verification and authentication. “Similarly, (NIMC) has issued over 78million unique NINs till date,” their joint statement added. The NCC had in February published data showing that there were some 303.6million mobile lines connected in the country, out of which about 197.77 were active. With subscribers of 125million active lines having submitted their NIN for linkage to SIM cards, there were about 72.7million lines affected by Monday’s partial deactivation
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