By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—Scores of angry subscribers, yesterday, attacked the two MTN offices located on the ever busy Wetheral and World Bank roads in Owerri.

Vanguard gathered that the subscribers stormed the offices, following the blocking of their telephone lines by the service provider.

It was not very clear at press time how the earlier apparently peaceful assembly turned rowdy, leading to the smashing of windows and molestation of MTN workers.

A subscriber, who simply identified herself as Ngozi, lamented that she had severally complied with the MTN directive to upgrade her record with the company and wondered why her line was blocked.

“How many times does MTN expect me to upgrade my record? What did they do with the previous documentations I processed? This is most unfair to subscribers,” Ngozi said.

Similarly, one Chijioke told Vanguard that since the service provider decided to mess customers up, he opted to finally dump the line.

“I do not know why I should be made to go through this excruciating grill periodically. The truth is that the company is taking all of us for a ride,” Chijioke lamented.

One of the workers, who spoke to Vanguard on strict grounds of anonymity, confirmed that some telephone lines were actually blocked, following the instruction of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.

“Actually, the company blocked the lines of the protesters in accordance with NCC directives. Some of them got angry in the process and attacked the workers,” the staff recounted.

Continuing, the staff said that “when the situation became critical, we had to invite the police, who quickly came to our rescue.”

When Vanguard visited the scene yesterday afternoon, some Police patrol vehicles were seen stationed near the building, while the protesters were forcefully ejected from the premises.

Although a police inspector posted to the scene did not want to give details of their operation, he, however, told Vanguard that “we are here to quell the riotous situation.”