If you’re a mobile subscriber in Nigeria and have registered your SIM card in the past, you could still be disconnected. How so? You may ask. First let me share a personal experience. I got a message from Etisalat saying I should go re-register so I ignored it because I thought it could have been sent in error. Then I got a service limit notice meaning I could only receive messages and calls. I was surprised. But just this past Sunday, I went to re-register and I got the service limit lifted. Someone I know who started using Etisalat recently wasn’t asked to do what I had just gone through and this led me to conclude that it was for people who have been long on networks. Well I said this story to make you know that this is real just in case you may have received such a message as well.
The Nigerian communications Commission (NCC) has warned operators to deactivate such SIM cards within seven days. The main reason for this is because of the spate of terrorist activities on the homeland. Several security agencies like the department of state security (DSS) were present at the meeting which held at the NCC office in Abuja.
Part of the statement after the meeting read, “These resolutions were part of the ongoing efforts by government to nip in the bud the incessant occurrences of threats via telecommunications networks and the danger they portend for the psyche of the citizenry.”
Nigeria has been experienced a rise in domestic terrorism and it’s been over a year since the Chibiok girls have been abducted. I really hope this new initiative can bring about a solution.