The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) says the subscriber line barring has no connection with the planned nationwide protest scheduled to commence on Thursday, August 1, 2024.

MTN, the largest mobile network in Nigeria with millions of subscribers, had, on Sunday, July 28, barred the telephone lines of several users.

Some of the affected persons alleged that MTN did so as part of efforts to frustrate the nationwide protest slated for Thursday over economic hardship in Nigeria.

Reacting to the allegation, ALTON, in a statement jointly issued on Monday by its Chairman and Executive Secretary, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Gbolahan Awonuga, respectively, said the subscriber line barring was due to the subscribers’ failure to link their National Identification Number (NIN) with their mobile phone numbers.

ALTON stated: “The attention of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has been drawn to some online reports linking the ongoing subscriber line barring exercise, with the planned national protest.

“There’s absolutely no connection between the two. The NIN/SIM link registration deadline has earlier been set for 31st July 2024.

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“The fact of the matter is that the harmonization exercise of the SIM Registration database and National Identity Database has been ongoing for several months. This is aimed at improving the integrity of the National SIM registration database.

“Customers who had their lines blocked recently are those whom their service providers found a mismatch between their records on both databases. We advise such customers to contact their service providers through communicated channels for resolution of the issue.”

It added that all operators have put in place measures to ensure that anyone whose line is blocked can unblock it by some steps.

ALTON further reiterated its commitment to supporting the government and upholding the rights of Nigerians, saying: “As an industry, we respect and commit to protecting the rights of all people to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications.”

The Star