The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disowned a viral web link – (https://bit.ly/NCC-Sim-Unbar-Gov-Ng) being circulated on social media asking telecom subscribers whose lines have been barred from making calls to click to have their lines unblocked.
In a statement signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the link and accompanying narrative represent patent misinformation and disinformation certainly designed to mislead the general public about the SIM cards that are barred from making calls, due to non-linkage with NIN at the set deadline.
He said the misleading, viral message mischievously displays NCC logo and ostensibly promises members of the public that, by clicking the web link and following further instructions in that regard, subscribers with barred SIM cards can unbar such SIMs across mobile networks without a valid NIN.
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“For the avoidance of doubt, the NCC wishes to state categorically that it never issued such a statement, directing subscribers or indicating that subscribers can unbar their SIM without a NIN. As such, the originators and peddlers of the spurious message were out to mischievously mislead unsuspecting members of the public and should therefore, be disregarded in its entirety.
“The NCC is the national regulatory authority for telecommunications in Nigeria, and it is co-driving the process of the NIN-SIM linkage with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as directed by the Federal Government.
“The Commission will not, under any circumstance, act contrary to the Federal Government’s directive to MNOs to ban SIMs cards not linked to NINs at the expiration of the last deadline given for the NIN-SIM linkage exercise.
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Dr. Adinde explained that for subscribers that have not registered for their NIN, what to do is to get their SIM registered at accredited centres across the country and then link the NIN with their SIM cards through channels provided by their service providers.
“Secondly, for subscribers with registered NINs, what to do is to simply go and link the NIN with their SIMs through channels provided by their service providers.
He also debunked an advertisement which claimed that the commission is recruiting.
“The advertisement indicating there is ongoing recruitment at NCC, which is circulating on Twitter, and through polymediation, may have been diffused to other social media networks, is a scam and should be disregarded,” he added.