Here's what happened after NCC told MTN, Airtel, Glo, others to deactivate unduly registered phone lines
By Tobi Olajiga
Many Nigerians who did not register their phone lines properly were barred from using their numbers.
Mobile networks said the ban was a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Those whose lines were deactivated, Friday, said they had been receiving warnings from their network providers such would happen except they completed their registration.
Experts said the move was part of efforts to get every Nigerian properly documented.
SIM registration centers were filled with long queues after networks deactivated affected lines last Friday.
Some people said they went through tough time to get their lines verified.
“I did not even read the message my network sends to me because they are annoying.” a middle-aged man who uses MTN told Newsroom.
“I usually ignore their messages because most of them are adverts. So when I tried to make a call this morning (last Friday) and my phone displayed a message that my line would be deactivated…I was shocked.”
“My line was deactivated without warning, no messages, nothing,” Abiodun Spencer said.
“We went to Airtel office on the Island and they did not attend to us on time. They did not manage the crowd well at all. It was a working day and people were stuck there. I was not happy.”
Another Airtel line user who verified his line at a location on Lagos Mainland said the operators were well organised.
“They had a lot of people attending to us and I was done in 15 minutes,” ‘Deji Babajide said.
