· He urged subscribers to go to the portal: https://nin.mtn.ng/nin, to create a Virtual NIN (VNIN).
· “You can also dial *996*3# on your mobile phone.
· “Select option three for Virtual NIN, Enter your NIN to proceed, then enter ‘109071’ as your Enterprise ID.
· “Or alternatively, dial *346*3*your 11 digit NIN*109071# to create a VNIN,” Aina said.
===========================================================Some
telecommunications subscribers have expressed displeasure over the barring of
phone lines by telcos after they linked their National Identification Number’s
(NIN) with the SIM cards.
They
expressed their displeasure in separate interviews with the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN
reports that telecommunications (Telcos) operators in Nigeria, including MTN,
Airtel, and Globacom among others, had been directed by their regulatory body,
the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to implement full network barring
on all phone lines for which subscribers had not submitted their NINs and those
without verified NINs by Feb. 28, 2024.
The
NCC said further that NINs that had been submitted but not verified, such lines
were to be barred on or before March 29, 2024, same as in cases where five or
more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.
Similarly,
where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to
be barred on or before April 15, 2024.
In
a visit by NAN in Lagos on Tuesday evening to some of the telcos customer
service centres, there were subscribers complaining about barred lines at all
the telcos outlets, but more at the MTN outlets.
The
subscribers were displeased that their lines had been barred from making calls
even before the Feb. 28 deadline.
Some
of them insisted that they had already linked their NINs to their SIM cards as
directed by the NCC, so were surprised that their lines were still barred.
A
businessman, Mr Marcel Okoh, said that a message was sent to his MTN line at
the weekend which he did not take serious, because he had done his NIN-SIM
linkage.
Okoh
said that two days after the message was sent, he noticed that his SIM had been
disconnected and could no longer recharge or make calls with his phone.
“The
disconnection is uncalled for because I have done the needful and I should have
been given time to make enquiries.
Similarly,
a fashion designer, Aisha Alao, who also uses an MTN line, said that she was
disconnected by the telco without any notice.
Alao
said that it was when she got to one of the MTN outlets that the agents
explained to her that she needed to do a NIN-SIM linkage.
Corroborating
Alao, a retired teacher, Mrs Veronica Maduabunechukwu, said that a disconnection
notice was sent to her by Airtel, despite having done her NIN-SIM linkage.
“The
line has not been disconnected and I see no reason why it should be barred.
Another
MTN subscriber, Mrs Chinenye Agbanusi, said that she had done her NIN-SIM
linkage as far back as 2020.
Agbanusi
said that she was not pleased with MTN for barring her line after following due
process.
She
added that the telco should upgrade its systems, to avoid recurring issues of
barring customers that had already done the needful.
A
Globacom subscriber, Miss Kanyinsola Oje, said that a notice to link her SIM to
NIN to avoid disconnection was also sent to her.
She
noted that some days after the notice, her line was barred.
However,
during the survey, Miss Nkechi, an agent in one of the Airtel outlets in Ketu,
said that subscribers had been coming to the centre to make complaints about
their SIM being disconnected.
Similarly,
Olumide, a Globacom agent in Ketu, also confirmed that subscribers had been
coming to the outlet to make complaints about their lines being barred since
December 2023.
According
to him, most of the subscribers insisted that they had done the NIN-SIM linkage
before, but were currently having issues.
Olumide
said, “the reason for the disconnection could be that the name the subscriber
used in registering for their NIN is different from what they used to register
their SIM.
“Another
issue could be that the line was reassigned to another subscriber, so the name
on the SIM could still be the name of the previous owner.
Reacting
to the subscribers’ complaints, Mr Funsho Aina, the Senior Manager, External
relations, MTN, said that most of the lines that were barred because no data
were found on the lines.
Aina
said that it was possible that these subscribers had done the NIN-SIM linkage,
but the data filed for NIN might not be the same as what they registered for
their SIM.
He
said that a discrepancy in data filed for NIN and for SIM could affect its
collation.
“Take
for instance, I register my SIM with Funsho, and in registering for the NIN I
use Olufunsho, which is also my name.
“Even
if I do the NIN-SIM linkage, in collating by the telco, the technology might
not be able to link the names to one person and the line would be disconnected
until the discrepancy is corrected,” he said.
Aina,
however, said in order to correct such discrepancies and be reconnected, there
were self-help steps that could be taken.
He
urged subscribers to go to the portal: https://nin.mtn.ng/nin, to create a
Virtual NIN (VNIN).
“You
can also dial *996*3# on your mobile phone.
“Select
option three for Virtual NIN, Enter your NIN to proceed, then enter ‘109071’ as
your Enterprise ID.
“Or
alternatively, dial *346*3*your 11 digit NIN*109071# to create a VNIN, ” Aina
said.
The MTN official also explained that it seemed as if MTN subscribers were more affected, because MTN had a large number of subscribers than the other telcos. (NAN)
