On Monday, April 4, the Federal Government directed telecommunication companies operating in the country to restrict Subscribers Identification Modules (SIM) not linked with National Identification Numbers (NIN) from making outgoing calls. Before then, a previous deadline for the registration had expired on March 31.
As expected, some telecommunication companies rushed to comply with the directive, less than 24 hours after it was issued. In the process, phone lines that had already been successfully linked to the subscribers’ NINs were erroneously barred from making calls.
Aware of the error and the inconvenience it must have caused the affected subscribers, a service provider, the Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) quickly apologised and offered to rectify the phone lines that were wrongfully restricted.
In all, about 72 million active subscribers were restricted from making out-going calls. Reacting, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) described this as unlawful. It asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, and the Nigerian Communications Commission to reverse the decision immediately.
In a public statement issued on April 9, 2022, SERAP said that restricting subscribers from making phone calls infringed their rights to associate with other Nigerians and to communicate freely. It argued, “Access to telecommunications services is a condition for the effective exercise of human rights. Therefore, the decision to restrict subscribers from making calls is both discriminatory and a travesty.
“The decision will cause harm to economic activity, personal safety and disproportionately affect those on the margins of society. This will directly hinder the ability of the government to achieve the 2030 Agenda’s Goal 8 on the promotion of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”
Beyond SERAP’s demand for a reversal of its decision, the Federal Government should bear in mind that mass e-registration of people, using biometric data systems via fingerprints, facial photographs and the issuance of a unique identification number, as is the case with the NIN and SIM registration, may breach the rights of subscribers to data privacy and ultimately lead to fraud-related crimes.
Indeed, the House of Representatives recently expressed concern that in spite of the regulatory frameworks in existence, cases of fraud, breach of privacy and financial losses were on the rise across the country. It is important to note that if linking telephone subscribers’ SIMs to their NINs cannot guarantee the protection of their rights to privacy or shield them from the activities of cybercriminals, then the purpose of the entire exercise is already defeated.
One of the reasons for the ongoing NIN and SIM integration, Nigerians were informed at the outset, was to enable the Federal Government to effectively tackle the security challenges facing the country. While we applaud and support any legitimate means by the government to address the worsening insecurity in the country, we also believe that it should discharge its responsibility to protect and secure the lives and properties of the people without unduly trampling on their human rights.
We are aware that due to logistic and administrative challenges, millions of active subscribers across the country, including persons with disabilities, the old and sick, as well as people living in remote and inaccessible areas, have been unable to capture their biometrics and obtain their NINs. Nigerians have also complained of long delays at registration centres caused by corrupt officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) who demand gratification before they are captured. The government ought to address such problems and other hiccups first, instead of insisting on early deadlines for registration.
As a matter of fact, the Federal Government should forget about issuing deadlines for now. It should consider adopting a continuous NIN and SIM registration model until the NIMC finds a way around the challenges encountered during the exercise.
