The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has urged MTN Nigeria, Airtel and other telecommunications companies to block phone numbers without National Identity Numbers, NIN.

Also, those who had submitted their NINs but have not been verified are also to be fully barred by February 28, 2024.

This was contained in a corporate notice that MTN Nigeria filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited revealing the directive from NCC and the attached deadlines for the barring.

A statement by its Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, MTN Nigeria said, “This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024. With regard to NINs that have been submitted but not verified, such lines are to be barred on or before 29 March 2024, where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.

“Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. All affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and biodata) before their lines are unbarred.”