On Monday, April 4, the Federal Government ordered telecom
companies to bar outgoing calls on all lines that have yet to link their
National Identification Number and the Subscriber Identity Module.
As a result of this, about 72.77 million active telecom subscribers
were barred from making calls on their SIMs.
In response to this, NATCOMS urged the Federal Government to
extend the implementation of the SIM-NIN policy by three months. The
association also gave the government one month to implement the ban.
However, in an interview with our correspondent on
Wednesday, the President of the association, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, disclosed that
NATCOM was set to take the government to court by May if it fails to
temporarily lift the ban.
According to him, the association will be joined in a suit
already filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project against the
Federal Government on the NIN-SIM policy implementation.
He said, “We have said that if the Federal Government does
not lift the ban, we would go to court. But SERAP said it had filed a document
in the court. So, we are giving the government until the end of the month.
“NATCOM is saying that by end of the month, we will go to
court. We are going to court to ensure the government unbans the lines and extends
the deadline. SERAP has made the first move already, we would be joined in the
suit.
“After the expiration of our deadline for the government to
reconsider its decision, we would formally go to court, along with SERAP. By
the first week in May, we are joining SERAP in the court.”
Ogunbanjo pointed out that even subscribers who had linked
their NIN with their SIMs prior to the directive were also blocked.
He said the directive was unfair to subscribers, adding that
its implementation had affected their businesses.
He added, “The present situation of things is so bad because
a lot of people that have linked their NIN and SIM are also being blocked.
These consumers now have to visit telecom service centres. This is unfortunate.
“When I spoke to one of the telcos, I was told that only
ongoing calls were being blocked, as subscribers can still use data, WhatsApp,
and text message services; which aligns with the directive of the ministry.
However, several people use their lines for business, and this is having an
effect on them.
“They can’t make call to their clients, this is a very
terrible situation that is affecting businesses. These are part of the reasons
we will join SERAP in the suit, so that the Federal Government can unban these
lines. And we would request at least a minimum of three months extension of the
exercise in the court.”
Ogunbanjo also alleged that racketeering had returned to the
National Identity Management Commission centres as officials now charge between
N3,000 and N10,000 for NIN registrations.
He stated, “The NIMC centres are jampacked. Telecom
consumers are suffering. By the time they go to the centres, they have to pay
between N3,000 and N10,000, depending on when the subscriber wants to get the
NIN.
“This is unfortunate. Yes, the government says it is free,
but these acts are open. Let security agents wear muftis and go to the NIN
centres, they would see for themselves that the NIN centre officials are
extorting members of the public. The only place they are not exploiting subscribers
is the telco centres, the mobile network operators.
“It is free there, but they are constrained as to how many
subscribers they can attend to in a day. There is always a crowd there too. And
sometimes, the network from the NIMC is slow. These are the situations
subscribers are facing. This is unfortunate, and it is the reason we are
requesting a deadline extension. -PUNCH
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