The Kogi State has opened up on why it shut down the operations of MTN Nigeria in the state.
The explanation was given by the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency, (KUIMCA).
MTN has been experiencing service disruption in Kogi since the last two weeks and witnessed total shut down in the last one week.
The Director General of KUIMCA Director General, Dr Taufiq Isa while speaking with journalists on Friday in Lokoja, attributed the shut down to the failure of the telecom company to comply fully with the rules stipulated in the official gazette guiding its operations in the state.
“In my assumption of office last August, I went through their files and discovered that they have not fully complied with the rules guiding their operations in the state. I called them for a discussion where they complained of being overbilled concerning the area of the state covered by their optic fibre.
“I went with them for verification exercise to assess their claim which took about four days and we found out they were even covering more areas than they claimed.
“We asked they to go and make the necessary payments but MTN refused. That is why we sealed off their facilities after obtaining court order to do so so,” Isa said.
He urged residents of the state to be patient with the government since their interests are being protected.
Isa noted that since MTN is not the only mobile telecom network operating in the state, residents as well as security agencies should consider switching to other networks, considering their importance in securing the lives and property of citizens, which should not be compromised under any circumstance.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, Salihu Enehe, said that MTN has arrogated to itself so much power that it has been refusing to respond to so many messages asking for compliance on various termes of operations in the state.
The chairman, who was represented by a director in the agency, Hassana Salawu noted that MTN has been indulging in violation of various rules, including the optic fibre right of way across the state.
“MTN claimed to have 48 optic fibres when audit revealed they have 199 fibres laid under the ground in the state. We have called for reconciliation meetings severally but they claimed not to be ready up till now,” he said.
