LAGOS—MTN Nigeria yesterday confirmed the news making the rounds that it closed its offices nationwide saying it was in order not to expose its workers to more harm than they suffered on Monday.
The telco said it was still taking stock of its losses as a result of damages protesters inflicted on its operations by physically destroying some of its facilities
A reliable source at MTN said: Yes, we had to take the decision of closing offices nationwide to protect our workers. They have suffered untold humiliation already and we did not want more harm to happen to them. However, the decision will not affect any of our services which will be going seamlessly on the background. But, what I don’t know, is when to open offices. It will depend on the nature of the nationwide protest and how long it lasts.
Some people had mischievously instigated that the protest begins at MTN offices and true to type, that can happen, and if it does while our workers are in the office, they may be subjected to more harm
Recall that yesterday the telco announced the closure of its offices and service centres nationwide, asking its customers to use its digital channels for any support they may need.
It used its Customer Care handle on X, to send the notice of closure saying: “Please, be informed that our shops nationwide will be closed today, 30th July. We are available 24/7 to support you via our digital channels.”
The build up to the closure started when scores of angry subscribers besieged MTN offices in many parts of the country vandalizing and pulling down facilities in reaction to massive barring of subscribers’ lines in compliance to the NCC’s directive that any telephone line not properly linked with the National Identity Number be barred on July 30th.
Eye witness account, recounted how angry subscribers pulled out the gates and barricades of MTN service centre in 23 road, Festac Town and damaged valuable property.
Protests in Festac, Oshogbo, others
Also in Oshogbo, Osun State, hundreds of subscribers, same Monday, trooped out to protest the action of telcos in barring their lines, just a few hours to the protest.
The protesters marched to the offices of different telecom operators in the state, particularly Dada estate, Head office of MTN Nigeria in the state.
Many of the protesters claimed to have arrived MTN office since 6.00 am with a view to unblocking their barred SIM cards but could not because the telco shut its doors.
The protesters also blocked the Osogbo-Iwo road leading to Oke-Fia area of the state capital, thereby disrupting traffic and creating gridlock in the area.
The customers consisting of old men, women, pregnant women and others, including civil servants appeared visibly angry over refusal to be attended to by the workers in the office.
According to a resident of Dada estate, Mr Ismail Ademola who was affected by the blockage, subscribers had lined up since 8am but could not be attended to after several hours.
Another customer, Ifeoluwa Dayo, said, “I left my children at home since 7am in Ikirun, Ifelodun local government area of the state only to get here and be told that I should come back another day in this period of high transportation fare.
Also at its shop in Maitama, Abuja, angry subscribers were reportedly banging and hitting the gate of the facility, and threatening that the planned nationwide protest would start from MTN’s premises.
Security operatives, especially DSS officials were later called in to calm the rising tension.
The situations in Festac and Oshogbo and Abuja were just few out of many in the Telcos’ offices in major cities, including Obalende, Victoria Island, Mushin and Ikeja in Lagos State,; Onitsha in Anambra State, Uyo in Akwa Ibom State and Warri in Delta State.
Viral videos online show protesters venting their frustration and anger over the sudden disconnection. The protests highlight the frustration and disruption caused by the mass disconnection, with many subscribers demanding a resolution to the issue.
NCC’s remedy
Meanwhile, the telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, immediately directed all operators to urgently reactivate all lines that were disconnected since the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their National Identification Numbers, NINs with their Subscriber Identity Module, SIMs.
The commission apparently did that to avert more damages on the operators but before it did, MTN had suffered substantial losses.
The MTN source told Vanguard that the company was disappointed but not surprised at the way the whole anger over call barring was directed at it, because such is the price a big operator pays, especially when it is dominating market share.
MTN leads the market with active subscriptions of 81.7 million, as of March this year while the closest operator, Airtel, had 63.3 million subscriptions.
Globacom and 9Mobile had 62.1 million and 11.6 million active subscriptions respectively.
