Telecoms Operators Block User Lines Ahead Of July 31 Deadline, Aug. 1 Protest

While Nigerians brace up for the August 1 nationwide protest against bad governance, thousands of mobile network users across Nigeria have had their telephone lines blocked without notice.

Over the weekend, multiple reports emerged online from users complaining about their lines being abruptly blocked despite having already linked their National Identity Numbers (NIN) to their SIM cards ahead of the July 31 deadline.

It will be recalled that the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) had earlier postponed the disconnection of telephone lines not linked to NIN to July 31. Initially, the disconnection was scheduled for April 15, but NCC changed its mind after considering requests for extension and the challenges network users were facing,

However, a source told the Punch that the directive to disconnect the network lines came from NCC, the same industry regulator that had extended the deadline to July 31.

Writing on Sunday, an X user @TimiBlaze said, “Woke up today to my line being blocked! Did anybody else experience this?”

Thousands of affected users flocked to Telco service centres on Monday to protest against the sudden blocking of lines, especially those who had complied with the NIN-linking of their lines and still got barred.

Videos online shows aggrieved customers in numbers at service centres across various states including Lagos, Uyo, Rivers, Delta, Osun, Oyo, etc.

Some commentators have claimed that the development is a tactic to defang the “End Bad Governance” protest plans. Others have suggested that the impromptu gatherings at the service centres might turn out to be a stepping stone for the planned August 1 protest.

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Emmanuel Ejiofor

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