MTN Nigeria on Tuesday announced the closure of its shops across Nigeria, asking its customers to use its digital channels for any support they may need.
Although the company did not give any reason for the closure, this may not be unconnected with the eruption of violence at some of its shops on Monday as customers besieged its support centres to unbar their lines that have been blocked over NIN-SIM linkage issues.
Recall that millions of lines were barred by all telecom operators including Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile over the weekend in line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In a short notice to its subscribers posted on its Customer Care handle on X, MTN said:
“Please, be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July. We are available 24/7 to support you via our digital channels.”
The company, however, did not state if the shops would be reopened after today.
At MTN’s shop in Festac Lagos, subscribers seeking to unbar their lines became violent and destroyed the fence of the building.
Also at its shop in Maitama, Abuja, angry subscribers were reportedly banging and hitting the gate of the facility, and threatening that the planned nationwide protest would start from MTN’s premises.
In Oyo State, reports show that thousands of MTN users besieged the company’s Idi-Ape office in Ibadan, the State’s Capital, protesting the sudden blockage of their SIMs. Trending videos circulating online show crowds of frustrated customers sending MTN staff members home in response to the disruption.
Meanwhile, to avert a nationwide crisis, the NCC on Monday afternoon ordered all telecommunication companies in the country to reactivate all lines they have barred over issues surrounding the linking and verification of NIN linked with their SIMs.
While noting that the objectives of the NIN-SIM linkage exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria are to enhance national security and ensure the national SIM ownership database is accurate, the Commission said it is giving the affected subscribers more time to properly link their SIMs.
The consumer is our priority, therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs,” the telecom regulator said in a statement issued by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
Although all telecom operators implemented the SIM blockages, more MTN customers were affected since the company has the largest active customers in Nigeria. As of March this year, MTN’s active subscriptions stood at 81.7 million, while the closest operator, Airtel, had 63.3 million subscriptions, according to NCC’s data.
