We Don’t Have ‘Killer Numbers’, 08030004900 Was A Telemarketing Number – MTN Nigeria

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has
confirmed the payment of the N30 billion fine paid by MTN.
According to NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo,
MTN has paid N30 billion ($98 million, 92 million euros) as
part of the fine.
Ojobo told The Guardian on telephone yesterday that a
receipt has been issued to the telecommunications firm,
“which confirms the payment.”
The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, at MTN Nigeria,
Omasan Ogisi, told The Guardian that payment was made
before yesterday, “and we have been issued receipt.”MTN,
Nigeria’s largest mobile operator, was initially fined $5.2
billion (N1.04 trillion) in 2015 for failing to deactivate over
five million unregistered Subscriber Identification Module
(SIM) cards, some of which were allegedly linked to the
Boko Haram insurgents.
With the confirmation of the payment of N30 billion fine,
the South African telecommunications firm has now paid
N110 billion.
Government had confirmed the earlier payment of N80
billion to its coffers as at December last year as part of the
fine, which has been staggered till 2019.
Specifically, the amount paid earlier before the new N30
billion, included the “goodwill” payment of N50 billion in
December 2015 and another N30 billion on June 10, last
year.
This is just as MTN denied claims of some of its number
being used to take peoples’ lives.
There have been allegations that MTN numbers,
08030004900 and 08066699666, belong to some serial
killers, which they have been using to take peoples lives
when calls are received through them.
There are also claims that when calls are received through
them, the receiver jumps into the Lagos Lagoon.
A message on WhatsApp read: “08030004600 and
08066699666: Warning: Do not pick any of these numbers.
They are severe killer numbers, which was reported to have
been killing people across the country. SAVE LIVES!”