Nigerian farmers have threatened to hold protests against wireless operator MTN if it does not block unregistered SIM cards, saying jihadist group Boko Haram was using such to facilitate their operations.
“We will stage a protest against MTN and take necessary legal action if it fails to comply with this directive within 48 hours,” head of the region’s association of small-holder farmers Mohammed Sani said in a statement.
The Nigerian government last year fined MTN $1 billion for missing a deadline to disconnect about 5 million unregistered SIM cards in a security crackdown.
The farmers believe the unregistered SIM cards enable Boko Haram communicate and coordinate attacks and recruit youth without being detected by the authorities.
MTN, based in Johannesburg, is Nigeria’s biggest mobile service provider, with more than 50 million subscribers.
MTN had not commented on the farmers demands as at the time of the publication of this article.
Boko Haram has waged a near-decade war in West Africa, seeking to institute a strict sharia-based system of governance.
The war has killed thousands and forced millions others to flee their homes.
