MTN Nigeria Communications (MTN) has shut down all its offices and service centres across the states in Nigeria, following customers’ reaction to the barring of their SIM lines.

The South African telecoms giant announced the closure of its offices nationwide in a notification posted on its X handle on Tuesday, July 30.

“Yello customer, please be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July 2024,” MTN stated.

The announcement came after large crowds overran the MTN outlets in Lagos on Monday, July 29, after the telecom outfit disconnected millions of its subscribers in Nigeria from its network.

The disconnection followed an earlier directive by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to disconnect SIMs with irregular user identities in correlation with their National Identification Numbers (NIN).

At the weekend, MTN began disconnection of subscribers whose identities were not in tandem with their NIN, resulting in aggrieved customers storming the MTN offices.

In a viral video on social media, a mob was seen destroying a barricade fence just outside the MTN office.

The clip showed a large crowd of angry subscribers vandalising the telecommunications company’s office in the FESTAC Town area in Lagos state.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, reacting to the situation said the Police Command in FESTAC had restored normalcy in the area.

Following the outage, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directed that the telecom companies immediately restore all the telephone lines of subscribers that were blocked.

The NCC Director of Media and Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, in a statement on Monday, July 29, explained that the directive to restore the blocked telephone lines was in response to the widespread disruption and subscriber outrage caused by the blockages.

“The consumer is our priority; therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend, because of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs,” he said.

In its earnings report for 2023, MTN Nigeria disclosed that it disconnected 4.2 million lines after the February 28 deadline for linking SIMs with NINs expired.

“We also had approximately 4.2 million lines disconnected for which the subscribers did not submit their NIN. Several of these lines were low-value subscribers, minimizing the revenue impact,” it stated.