Important News To MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile SIM Card Owners In Nigeria
Important News To MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile SIM Card Owners In Nigeria
MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile SIM Card Owners In Nigeria: Telecom companies in the nation are prohibited from deactivating or blocking any line or SIM whose user has not linked to the National Identification Number, or NIN, by a Federal High Court located in Lagos.
On February 22, 2024, trial court Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa issued a restraining order against the cellular operators in response to a request for one made by rights activist Olukoya Ogungbeje.
In a lawsuit, Ogungbeje had brought MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Airtel Networks Nigeria Limited before the court along with the federal government, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Justice, and others.
Ogungbeje had requested an injunction pending appeal, prohibiting all respondents, jointly or severally, from acting in any way that could enforce the judgment, including through their agents, outlets, agencies, privies, officials, servants, men, parastatals, units, organs, or anybody else they may refer to as such.
Additionally, Ogungbeje requested that no further action be taken, including outright barring, deactivating, or restricting any SIM cards or his phone lines, or those of any Nigerian citizen, until after the Court of Appeal hears and rules on his appeal against the court’s May 8, 2023 ruling.
The appellant/applicant herein filed a lawsuit against the respondents, citing their actions as a means of undermining the court’s judicial powers and the Nigerian legal system, thereby infringing on the applicant’s fundamental rights, as one of the ten reasons he listed for seeking the application.
“That on May 8, 2023, this court dismissed the appellant/applicant’s suit in a thoughtful ruling.”
The lower court’s July 26, 2023, decision was the subject of an appeal notice filed by the appellant/applicant, who, dissatisfied with the ruling, used his constitutional right to appeal.
“That the appeal by the appellant/applicant is directed against the entire ruling found in this court’s judgment.”
