Row deepened on Thursday over the directive of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Ibrahim Pantami to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to order telecom operators to deactivate all the subscriber identity module (SIM) cards that are not linked to the National Identity Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Two civil society organisations, Paradigm Initiative and Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative, asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to stop the Federal Government from blocking SIM cards not linked with NINs by network operators.
They prayed the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining Dr Pantami and four network operators from implementing the directive on NIN.
The order, they added, should last until “all Nigerians have been conveniently afforded the opportunity to register for and obtain valid NINs and update their SIM registration accordingly.” (Nation)