Outrage as FG blocks outgoing calls over NIN-SIM linkage

Isa Ali Pantami

Nigerians have begun reacting to a directive by the Federal Government through the minister of communications and digital economy Prof. Isa Ibrahim (Pantami) for telecoms networks to bar outgoing calls on telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage policy from Monday, April, 4, 2022.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Policy with effect from the 4th of April, 2022. Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all Telcos to strictly enforce the Policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria,” a statement on Monday jointly signed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said.

According to some Nigerians on social media, the government is not showing empathy at this troubled time. Others say that despite the government’s policy on NIN-SIM linkage, kidnappers use SIMs to contact relatives of their victims for ransom.