Are you looking for ways to unblock NIN barred SIm? In December 2020, the Nigerian government gave a directive that all SIM cards should be associated with the NIN of the users or be liable for being deactivated. The NIN is another unique number assigned to each Nigerian citizen for every identification, among others.
If you are among those that have not linked their SIM card with NIN, or if your SIM has been blocked due to this exercise, then consider the following steps to unblock your NIN barred SIM.
How to link your SIM with NIN to unblock NIN barred SIM
The following are the steps that one would follow in order to retrieve his or her NIN:
Step 1: Link your NIN
For a start, to link your National Identification Number (NIN) to your sim, you should know what NIN stands for. In case one does not know his or her NIN, one can get it by going to any NIMC centre that is around him or her. Or you can request it by yourself on your phone through the dialing *346#.
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Step 2: How to link NIN to SIM
If you have your NIN, there are two options to link it with the mobile number(s) by either the NIMC Mobile App or the assigned USSD code of the mobile network.
In this section, the steps on how to link your NIN to your mobile numbers using the NIMC mobile ID application is explained.
Read Also: Is Your MTN Banned? Here are Easy Steps to Unlock Your MTN SIM Anytime, Anywhere
To link your NIN to your mobile number using the NIMC mobile app, it is paramount to point out that you would need to first download the application. Input your NIN and proceed to log in. Then follow these steps:
- Click on the “My Devices” button placed on the lower right-hand side of the screen of the app.
- Click on “Add Mobile Number” and then enter the mobile phone number you want to link.
- Enter the OTP received to that particular mobile phone number.
- You can link up to seven (7) mobile phone numbers.
If you are using a feature phone, you can link your number to your NIN using the USSD code of your network.
How to link your NIN to your mobile numbers using USSD code.
The USSD codes for respective network providers are as follows:
- For Airtel, dial *121*1#
- For MTN, dial *785#
- For Glo, SMS “UPDATENIN YourNIN FirstName LastName” to 109. For example, “UPDATENIN 12345678910 Samuel Bright”
- For 9Mobile, dial *200*8#
Conclusion
Some people have reported the blocking of their SIMs even if they declare that they are registered to their NINs. This could be for several reasons including; NIN registration not fully completed, error in data integration by NIMC, NIN registration data and that of SIM card registration do not tally. If you exclude all of these scenarios, you might have registered more than 7 SIM cards to 1 NIN. The maximum is 7; any Other line after the seventh will, therefore, not be registered and will be blocked.
After following these steps listed above and you couldn’t unblock your NIN barred SIM, then you must have registered more that 7 numbers to one NIN, you can visit the nearby customer care center in your location for assistance.