Nigeria cuts off 73 million cellphone callers for non-registration on data base

ABOUT 73 million people in Nigeria – more than a third of the 198 million population – have been barred from making outgoing calls this month because they have not been registered in the national digital identity database.

Nigeria is among dozens of African countries including Ghana, Egypt and Kenya, with SIM registration laws that authorities say are necessary for security purposes, but digital rights experts say increase surveillance and hurt privacy.

Nigeria has been rolling out 11-digit electronic national identity cards for almost a decade, which record an individual’s personal and biometric data, including fingerprints and photo. The National Identity Number (NIN) is required to open a bank account, apply for a driving licence, vote, get health insurance and file tax returns.

In 2020, Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator said every active mobile phone number must be linked to the user’s NIN. It extended the deadline until March 31 this year. The government said outgoing calls were being barred from April 4 from any mobile phone numbers that had not complied. Millions of Nigerians have not registered their SIM cards, for reasons ranging from concerns over privacy to problems reaching registration centres or not having a NIN.

Officials have said the policy is needed to bolster security and identify criminals as the government battles insurgents and armed bandits who have kidnapped hundreds of people for ransom.

Nigeria’s 12-year war with insurgent Islamists has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing some 350 000 people, according to UN estimates, including indirect deaths through damage to agriculture and health care.

The push to get citizens to link their mobiles to the national ID database has sparked alarm among privacy activists, who warn that African governments are using new technology and laws to increase surveillance of citizens and dissidents.

In Kenya too, authorities have directed citizens to register their mobile SIM cards, citing security reasons. An April 15, deadline for registration prompted thousands of Kenyans to inundate local telecom outlets in Nairobi, fearing they would be locked out of their phones.