"Kogi Agency Seals MTN Operations for Non-Compliance"

By Ahmed Muhammed Danasabe, Lokoja

The Kogi State Infrastructural and Utility Management Compliance Agency (KIUMCA) has shut down the operations of Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) in the state due to alleged non-compliance with the agency's laws. The Director General of KIUMCA, Hon. Isah Taufiq, made this known during an interactive session with journalists in Lokoja.

According to Hon. Taufiq, the agency had been in discussions with MTN to resolve issues of non-compliance, but the network provider failed to meet its obligations. "Upon assumption of office at the agency, I met that the MTN has not been complying for over two years," he said. "For peace to reign, I invited the management of the network provider for a meeting to resolve the grey areas."

One of the major issues, Hon. Taufiq said, was the kilometres of fibre laid by MTN in the state. "The network provider claimed that they had just little over 130 kilometres of fibres in the state, but during a joint field operation by the officials of the agency and MTN, it was discovered that the network provider has over 400 kilometres," he revealed.

Despite efforts to resolve the issue amicably, Hon. Taufiq said MTN was not willing to comply. "All efforts made by the agency to have an amicable resolution of all the issues against the service provider proved abortive because the MTN was not prepared to do the needful," he said.

As a result, KIUMCA approached a court of law to obtain an order to seal MTN's operations in the state. Hon. Taufiq assured that the network provider's services would be restored as soon as they comply with the agency's laws. "Other network service providers have complied and they are fully in operations in Kogi state," he said. "The MTN services would be unsealed as soon as they do the needful."