Telecommunications companies have announced that they have disconnected over 40 million subscribers who failed to provide their National Identity Numbers (NIN) in compliance with Nigeria’s Subscribers Identification Module and NIN linkage policy.

In a statement on Sunday, Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, revealed the disconnections. This number represents a significant increase from the initial plan to deactivate 12 million telephone lines.

Adebayo explained that the next wave of disconnections will affect subscribers who have provided their NIN but have more than five Mobile Subscription Identification Numbers associated with their NIN, which have not been verified.

“Over 40 million lines have been blocked, and the affected customers are those who didn’t submit their NINs at all. Some individuals have not presented any NIN to operators. They haven’t registered their SIMs or participated in the harmonization program. They simply haven’t provided their NIN number to their operators, and those were the individuals who were blocked. So why is the number so high despite repeated warnings? It indicates that many people are still communicating but are not registered,” Adebayo stated.

He further explained, “The next wave of disconnections will affect those who have provided their NIN but have more than five Mobile Subscription Identification Numbers associated with their NIN, which have not been verified. This is because some have differences in the order of their names, and some have differences in their date of birth. The information provided to the operator during SIM registration is different from what they provided to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) when they obtained their NIN. Some subscribers also have differences in other critical records required for the verification process.”

“These individuals who have more than five MSINs attached to their NIN and have not been verified will be disconnected effective March 30, 2024. Therefore, we may witness further disconnections by the end of this month. If someone has received text messages to verify their name, but they have not done so by March 30, those individuals will be disconnected, and the figures will increase even more.”

It is important to note that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued regulatory directives to telecommunications operators last week, instructing them to restrict SIMs that are not linked to NIN. This action follows multiple deadline extensions since the policy was introduced by the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, in 2020.