The Federal Government on Monday morning directed telecoms companies operating in Nigeria bar calls from SIM cards not already linked with the owners’ National Identification Numbers, NIN.
The directive by the Nigerian Communications Commissions followed following several extensions of the period given for compulsory linkage of of subscribers’ NIN to their SIM cards by the government.
The NCC had on April 1, 2022 approved a last minute window for Nigerians to link their NIN to their SIM cards.
However, restrictions of calls on the SIM cards not linked to NIN will be lifted immediately there is compliance with the directive, the NCC said in its statement on Monday.
In the statement, the NCC said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Policy with effect from the 4th of April, 2022. Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.
“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the 4th of April, 2022.
“Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telcos can lift the restriction on their lines. Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.”
According to NCC, over 125 Million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication till date.