Many Nigerians go through ‘hell’ over mistaken identities from recycled SIM cards

     – Network providers compelled to reissue phone numbers 

 Nigerians are increasingly falling victims of mistaken identities from the possession and ownership of recycled SIM cards and phone numbers previously allocated to different subscribers, who used the numbers to commit heinous crimes, which are now traced to current holders.

Investigation reveal that a growing number of people have gone through traumatizing experiences in the hard of security agents probing criminal behaviors.

The case of Mariam Ibrahim exemplifies the danger inherent in innocently buying a recycled SIM. On October 16, 2025, police officers from the Force Intelligence Department approached Ibrahim, a corps member, and asked her to confirm her identity, the young lady was shell shocked. Why the confirmation of her identity? she wondered.

The young graduate, who was serving in Akure, the Ondo State capital, was immediately arrested by the officers and whisked to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in the city.

At the SCID the drama took on the intensity of a rising action, but denouncement was still far away and unclear. The officers reportedly seized her phones: an iPhone 12 Pro Max, an Itel device, and a WiFi device.

Just as she was trying to make sense of the oddities playing out,  she was confronted with a list of phone numbers that investigators claimed were tied to a kidnapping and murder case dating back to January 2024.

For Ibrahim, the accusation seemed surreal and like a fragment from magic  novel where action defies logic and common sense.

The case of mummy Anu, (Olufunke Aina) a 30 year mother two is more familiar and typical. She was riding in a bus to place of business one day in May 2025, when police stopped them as her phone rang and she was asked to come down. Perplexed, she complied and was arrested and taken to the station. It took four days before she was finally exonerated after paying N120,000.

Yet, it was the unintended consequence of a policy introduced five years earlier. Not a few have such harrowing ordeals.

Unintended Consequences 

Recall that in 2020, the Federal Government came up with a policy that mandated all mobile subscribers to link their National Identification Number to their SIM cards — a  development geared toward  tightening national security and combating crimes  and criminality, such as kidnapping, terrorism and fraud.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) rolled out and repeatedly extended deadlines between 2020 and 2024, saying that no SIM would be  active without a verified NIN tied  to it.

With a grim face  Ibrahim gave a harrowing account of her ordeal in a chat with journalists.

“The officers, led by Inspector Dauda Adamu of the FID, Abuja, alleged that one of the phone numbers connected to my National Identification Number was involved in the crime.

“However, I had purchased my Airtel SIM on April 15, 2025, a fact later confirmed by Airtel’s official records. Despite this evidence, I was threatened with being taken to Abuja and detained overnight in Akure.

“On October 17, 2025, Airtel officially confirmed that the disputed SIM was, indeed, bought and activated in April 2025, fully clearing me. Yet, the police still took my phones to Abuja and instructed me to report there.”

In the thick of her ordeal, Ibrahim called  her lawyer, Tope Temokun, who immediately swung into action.

In a post shared on his Facebook account at  that time, Temokun  noted that  after Ibrahim’s nerve-wracking detention in Akure, his client was taken to the Police Clinic in Akure, where a medical test was allegedly conducted on her without her consent.

“She was eventually granted bail in Akure. Despite this, she was further instructed to report to Abuja. Upon being briefed, we petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, challenging this oppressive conduct of the Nigerian Police and making clear demands.

This case sparked a swell of responses from Nigerians. Across social media platforms, many Nigerians recounted  similar experiences,  describing how newly purchased SIM cards were still linked to the personal information of previous users.

In her comment, a Facebook user, who identified as Josephine Edema, recounted  her encounter, which she said has made her wary of any issue regarding SIM cards.

“Policemen came and arrested my mum because she lost her SIM card, but she didn’t take it seriously. The person, who picked up the SIM happened to be a kidnapper who used the SIM to defraud people.

“The police traced the SIM registration to my mum’s workplace and arrested her and even her prayer partner because she was the most frequent number on the call log. I lost my Airtel SIM, but now reading this (Ibrahim’s ordeal) it’s so disheartening,” she wrote.

An Ibadan-based  civil servant Timothy Abegunde,  said that he was once invited for questioning by the authorities because the previous user of his SIM card was said to be involved in cybercrime activities.

“I was shocked because I am not a criminal and I have no link with criminal activity. I purchased the line from a vendor close to my shop, and it was registered there in my presence. So, it came as a shock to me when they now said I was a suspect. After some back-and-forth, I was finally freed when they found the person they were looking for,” Abegunde said.

Expressing  deep frustration and concern about the role of network operators, a Facebook user,  Lanre Adebayo, said, “The network providers are responsible for this problem. They fail to erase all data on formerly owned SIM cards and sell them to new customers.

“The day I went to one of the network providers’ offices due to an issue with my SIM card was the day I knew that one can go to prison for a crime he/she did not commit. The data showed everyone who had used the line before me and their NIN. Imagine over five NINs linked to a SIM card. They handle data carelessly.”

Another user, Tunji Olatunji, criticised the resale of registered lines, warning that it could lead to wrongful arrests.

He wrote, “Network service providers should also learn something from this episode and upgrade. Once a line has been registered, it should never be sold to any other person. Soon the police will start arresting people because a strange number flashed them.”

SIM Regeneration

In Nigeria, SIM registration is often carried out by mobile network operators, including MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9Mobile at designated outlets across the country.

The NCC has repeatedly noted that the primary objective of the linkage was to strengthen security and curb criminal activities, such as kidnapping and fraud by creating a verifiable connection between a phone number and an individual’s identity.

To make sure there’s  proper identification, the commission suspended new SIM registrations, audited the subscriber database, and directed operators to require a valid National Identification Number from all users.

A SIM registration operator, Chidi Nelson, gave a graphic details of the process to Business Hallmark. According to him, “We start by checking if the NIN is valid first. After that, we take the customer’s basic information, which includes the NIN number, their maiden name, home address, state of origin and some other details.”

He  noted further that “Most of the details are on the NIN, so we only need to ensure they correspond with the information provided. After that, we take the customer’s thumb and index fingerprints. Then, we take a shot of the customer’s face, just like a passport photograph. We submit the details and wait a few minutes for the SIM to activate.”

“Most of the numbers we registered today are used SIMs. The numbers have been used for a long time and are regenerated. So, if they have a criminal record, the new owner of the number is likely to be wrongly identified as a suspect. But they are just victims of regenerated numbers,” he added.

It’s frustrating that in spite of the authorities’ insistence that proper SIM registration and NIN linkage will scale down fraud and strengthen national security, roadside vendors and criminal networks continue to profit by it by finding ways around the system.

In April 2023, a man identified as Ade (@iamAde) on X described how a roadside SIM vendor fraudulently made spirited efforts to misuse his identity.

According to him, the  transaction appeared innocent l until the vendor captured his biometrics twice, raising suspicion.

He wrote, “So I queried him, but he gave a flimsy excuse.” Immediately after the registration, he received a message showing that two numbers had been registered in his name.

When he asked the vendor why, he was told that “it’s normal, that sometimes the issue is from the network operators.”

After reporting the matter at a MTN office, he said the manager reacted sharply. According to him, “The manager there said, ‘These guys again? Why do they do this to innocent people?”

The second number was deregistered, and the vendor was arrested.

Under interrogation, the vendor reportedly admitted that he used customers’ personal details to register additional SIM cards, which were then sold to “car trackers,” fraudsters, ritualists and kidnappers.