The Federal Government has ordered telecoms operators to bar outgoing calls on all unlinked Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards in the country.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isah Pantami gave the directive on Monday.

Recall that the deadline handed Nigerians to link their National Identification Number (NIN) to their SIMs ended on March 31, after about eight times of postponing it.

In last minute push for the linkage, the FG had on Friday directed Nigerians to ensure they complete the verification and linkage of their NINs to their SIMs within days.

As such, today (Monday) in a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ike Adinde and Head, Corporate Communications, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke, said Pantami commended Nigerians and Legal Residents for their support during the exercise to link the NIN to the SIM.

According to the FG, as of date, over 125 million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication. Similarly, the NIMC has issued over 78 Million unique NINs till date.

NCC and NIMC disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the Policy with effect from the April 4th, 2022.

Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all telcos to strictly enforce the policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.

“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy from the April 4th, 2022,” statement read.

“Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the telcos can lift the restriction on their lines.

“Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the telcos, including the NIMC mobile App.”