Globacom Ltd. (Glo), a major Nigerian telecommunications company, is reassigning active SIM cards linked to National Identification Numbers (NIN) to new users. This move has caused several subscribers to lose access to their phone numbers.
The Federation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reported that one affected subscriber, Dewunmi Lagos, shared his experience on social media. He explained that his father, a Glo user for over 20 years, lost access to his SIM card in the second week of July.
“My dad has been using his Glo SIM for over 20 years. He bought the SIM for N11,000 when it came out. He traveled out for six months and came back; his Glo SIM was still working until last week Tuesday,” Dewunmi posted on X.
When Dewunmi’s father visited a Glo office in Ikorodu, he was told that someone named Abass Yusuf had re-registered the line in Abuja since 2014 and had been using it.
“They said my popman can’t get his number back, and this is after linking his NIN to it,” Dewunmi said.
He expressed confusion about how a recent network glitch could reroute his father’s number to another user.
Another subscriber, Simeon Awodele, posted on Facebook that Glo informed him he had forfeited ownership of his SIM, despite registering it with his NIN. Other users in the comment section shared similar experiences with different telecom companies.
Dewunmi provided more details about his father’s SIM, stating it had never been inactive for more than two days. According to Nigerian regulations, telecom companies lock SIMs only if they remain inactive for 90 days. He also noted that Glo had not responded to his social media messages.
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Dewunmi has approached the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for help.
“I’m officially filing a complaint with FCCPC, NCC, and the lawyers will begin their court process,” he announced on Facebook.
He emphasized the importance of the number to his father’s life and documents, questioning how it could have been reassigned.
“This number is what my dad has on all his documents and anything that has to do with his life. You want him to throw that away?” Dewunmi asked.