The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed the telecom operators to extend the NIN-SIM verification deadline beyond July 31, 2024.

The commission had last week directed the telecom operators to reactivate mobile lines barred due to NIN-SIM verification issues.

Many telecom subscribers/consumers had been barred from accessing their phone lines because of their inability to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs).

This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.

The compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM, which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN was scheduled to end July 31, 2024, after several deadline reviews.

Confirming this to our reporter a few days ago, a top NCC official said the deadline was extended because of the present situation in the country.

The official who pleaded anonymity because they had not been authorised to speak with the media on the matter said "The situation might prevent the telecom subscribers from accessing the telecom operators' shops to do their SIM-NIN verification.

"I don't know when exactly the new deadline will be, they (operators) have been directed not to bar any line until the new deadline is communicated to them", the official told our reporter."

The NCC's spokesman, Reuben Mouka could not be reached yesterday afternoon as his line was not connecting.