The Nigeria government has ordered all telecommunication service providers to ask all subscribers to provide their National Identification Numbers (NIN). Subscribers who fail to do so within two weeks are to be blocked from using their SIM cards.
This was the
resolution reached at a meeting between the minister of communication and
digital economy and stakeholders in the communication industry on Monday.
The resolution was disclosed by
the spokesperson of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC)
in a statement on Tuesday.
The major telephone networks in Nigeria are MTN, Globacom,
Airtel and 9mobile.
the meeting affirmed the earlier
directive to totally suspend the registration of new SIM cards by
all operators.
“Operators to require ALL their subscribers to provide valid
National Identification Number (NIN) to update SIM registration records.
“The submission of NIN by subscribers to take place within
two weeks (from today December 16, 2020 and end by 30 December, 2020).
“After the deadline, ALL SIMs without NINs are to be blocked from
the networks.
“A Ministerial Task Force comprising
the Minister and all the CEOs (among others) as members is to monitor
compliance by all networks. Violations of this directive will be met by stiff
sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of operating license.
Note: If you have already done your NIN
registration before, you can dial *346# to retrieve your NIN number.
