Secret Reporters No place to hide
According to CNBC Africa report, reported in March 5, 2024, MTN Nigeria reported a record revenue of N2.46 trillion for the full year 2023, showcasing its market dominance. But what could be more farther than the truth, and how MTN Nigeria made this huge profit?
An 11th September 2016 report on The Punch newspaper, had captured the Nigerian Communications Commission’s directive to telecom operators, warning all operators to stop unsolicited messages to all its customers.
While others had discontinued the practice of unsolicited messages, MTN Nigeria, has continued with stealing of Nigeria’s wealth, with their daily deductions on the account of Nigerians, who are their customers.
On Tuesday, 2:18pm, I got a message from MTN Nigeria that I had subscribed to Efiwe scholarship, and I was directed to click a link to start winning cash prizes. I was never looking for a scholarship, neither did I even touch my phone for that day, due to the nature of my work.
But typical of MTN Nigeria’s surreptitious means of making stolen wealth to declare profit for themselves and intimidate other telecom operators, N150 had been deducted from my account.
A call to MTN’s customer care representative which I made, Justin, who answered the call, told me, they have clients who send messages like that to their network, and MTN will in turn send to its subscribers. When I reminded him of NCC’s directive against unsolicited messages to subscribers, he said, I will be compensated for the deduction.
How insulting and how daring could MTN Nigeria be? If not waxing stronger in pilfering our resources? Imagine the millions of subscribers that MTN takes a negligible sum of money from their account, and has remained unaccounted for?
Has the Nigerian Communications Commission become a lame duck, where MTN will continue in its routine stealing without check? Who is enabling MTN to do this? Are they now validating the claims of Nigerians that South African companies are ripping-off Nigerians in their fatherland?
When will MTN Nigeria declare a non-stolen revenue, aside stealing from Nigerians through the back door of unsolicited messages and calls?
The NCC should rise to the occasion and checkmate the illegal deductions and day light robbery conducted by MTN, to forestall future occurrence.
Eneh John, PhD
Journalist and Editor of Trail Reporters News.
