Telecoms company, MTN has shut all its stores and service centres across Nigeria following an outrage that turned into the destruction of one of its facilities on Monday.

Vanguard reports that the outrage resulted from the network provider barring the lines of some subscribers on Sunday due to a mismatch in their National Identification Number and SIM registration.

In a video that went viral on social media, a mob destroyed a barricade fence just outside the MTN office in FESTAC Town, Lagos.

Recall that following public outcry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directed all mobile service operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected.

NCC, in a statement on Monday, said it took the decision because the consumer is its priority.

The statement said: “Over the weekend, many telecom subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecom consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs). This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage

“Since December 2023, the commission has since reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024 was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details. This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINS.

“The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate. The NIN-SIM linkage policy aids in verifying and protecting users’ identities while also providing a critical infrastructure that assures access to the benefits of a robust digital economy for the citizenry.