JUST IN: MTN FACES BACKLASH OVER SIM BLOCKAGE IN OYO
Thousands of MTN customers stormed the company’s Idi-Ape office in Ibadan, Oyo State’s capital, on Monday, protesting the abrupt blocking of their Subscriber Identification Modules.
The situation worsened when the telecom provider abruptly blocked users’ phone numbers due to NIN-SIM linkage issues.
Online videos depict angry customers yelling at MTN employees to go home in response to the disruption.
Oyo Affairs, using the @Oyoaffairs handle, tweeted a picture of thousands of stranded at the Idi-Ape office.
Ogbeni Adefila (@OgbeniHadephila) commented, “If you are concerned about your SIM block, protest is never a remedy. Get yourselves together as an entity and take up a Class Action against the service providers. Sue them and get right.”
Another MTN SIM user, OluwaLoba (@iamtobzz), lamented, “This Idi-Ape MTN office is choked o.”
“A friend of mine has his MTN SIM registered and with NIN verified written on his MTN app, so blocking him again,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, a subscriber named Jamal Kolade faulted the protesters, arguing that the service provider had issued warnings about the SIM blocks for unlinked National Identification Numbers.
His tweet read, “What do you mean by prior warning? Do you know since when they’ve been telling people to link their NIN to their SIM?”
Similarly, a user codenamed Abcone @WORLDWIDEFINAN5, said, “My MTN line was blocked on Saturday. Meanwhile, the service provider has been sending notices; if you don’t have the right information, you should have done your findings. This is unnecessary and unacceptable at this crucial moment in our country.