Security Checks in Nigeria Deletes 4.9 Million Mobile Network Users

Security checks of the identities of mobile phone users in Nigeria led to a decrease in the number of mobile network subscribers during the first five months of this year by 4.95 million subscribers.

According to the National Telecommunications Authority in Nigeria, the number of mobile service subscribers reached 220.93 million as of the end of last May, compared to 225.88 million subscribers in January 2023.

The security verification procedures stipulate that mobile phone holders in Nigeria must match their real identity, which requires tens of millions of mobile phone holders to be summoned to Nigerian mobile operators with their identity cards for verification.

These measures came within the framework of a new strategy to enhance Nigerian national security and combat terrorism adopted by the government of Nigeria.

Those measures include the security of communications and its means, which show the use of armed extremists in the Boko Haram movement in northern Nigeria and the oil robbery gangs in the south of the country as a means of communication, extortion, or causing explosions.