The Nigerian Communications Commission has stated that more than 40 million telephone lines that were blocked for not linking to the National Identity Numbers may soon be taken away.
The NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, revealed this on Tuesday during an interview with PUNCH Online.
He explained that telecom operators have barred the phone lines for not meeting the commission's deadline of February 28, 2024, to link their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) to their NIN.
He mentioned, “If the blocked lines are not dealt with within 180 days, they will be unable to receive calls but can still send texts and make calls. But after the specified days, they would also be barred from making calls and might lose their lines to their service provider within 365 days.”
However, to unblock your phone lines, PUNCH Online highlights the processes of the retrieval as explained by the NCC’s Director of Publicity to our correspondent.
1. For subscribers who have not registered for their NIN, get your SIM registered at accredited centres across the country.
2. Then link the NIN with your SIM through channels provided by your service provider.
3. For subscribers with registered NINs, simply visit your service provider centre and present the NIN or link your SIM through channels provided by your service providers.
4. But if you have NIN but it was forgotten, retrieve your NIN conveniently using your mobile phone by dialling *346# to get the number.
5. From the options displayed, select “NIN Retrieval”, by typing in ‘1’, if you are using the same phone number you enrolled with for your NIN.
6. Follow the steps displayed on your screen and provide the required inputs.
7. Note that using this service incurs a N20 fee only (deducted from your phone airtime balance).
8. However, the four Mobile Network Operators in the country have designated specific USSD codes for easy and quick linkage of your NIN and your SIM cards. They are as follows:
a. For MTN Customers
Dial *785# using the phone number you wish to link, enter your NIN and submit or dial *785*Your NIN# from the phone number you wish to link. The number will be linked to your NIN automatically.
b. For Glo Customers
Simply send “UPDATENIN NIN FirstName and LastName” to 109.
c. For Airtel Customers
Just dial *121*1# now to link.
d. For 9Mobile Customers
Dial *200*8# and follow the prompts on your phone screen.
