37 million lines to be deactivated in fight against terrorists

According to various media reports, Nigerian telecoms operators have been ordered by Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, to deactivate 37.79 million mobile phone lines as part of a move to eradicate the Boko Haram insurgency within three months.

IT News Africa reports that the move is designed to hit at the terrorist group, which uses mobile phones to co-ordinate a lot of mass atrocities.

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Another report by TechForge reveals that four of the biggest mobile operators in the country, MTN, Glo, and Etisalat, all deactivated mobile lines that were unregistered, or improperly registered subscriber information since 7 September.

The NCC had previously instructed the telecoms companies to deactivate all the unregistered SIMs or face a hefty fine.