The scene at the office of one of the telecommunication companies in Ondo State, MTN, was chaotic, on Monday, when residents of the state who had their phone lines disconnected in their large numbers besieged the Akure office of the company.

According to findings, some of the customers who had their lines barred at the weekend arrived at the telecommunications office as early as 3:00 am to beat the anticipated long queues.

When The Guardian visited the Akure office of the company on Oba Adesida Road at about 9:00 a.m., the subscribers lamented that the agony they had been subjected to was uncalled for.

READ ALSO: Barred lines: MTN subscribers besiege service centres

According to some of the subscribers, there was no need for their lines to be disconnected, considering the fact that they had previously linked their lines with the National Identification Number (NIN).

One of the subscribers, who expressed frustration over the situation, lamented that the Nigerian system was overstretching the limit of what anyone could bear, particularly with the economic hardship in the country.

The subscriber, who gave her name as Veronica Akinyose, said: “I noticed that I couldn’t make any calls late Friday evening. I thought it was a network issue after switching off my phone several times. It was later that I realised that my number had been blocked.

“After making inquiries, I was told that they (MTN) blocked my number because it was not connected with NIN. NIN, since when? I have linked my number since only God knows when.

“When I got here around 5:30 am, my number on the list was 372. This is absolutely a shame on us in this country. It seems all we are going through is not enough with MTN introducing this to us. This is just unfair.”

Meanwhile, it was the same situation in other towns like Akungba, Arigidi, Ugbe, Ikare, and Okeagbe.

An affected subscriber, Seyi Lasisi, from Agbaluku, said that he came to the centre as early as 6:00 a.m. without success as the operator complained of bad internet service.

Another victim of the blockage, Kola Omoniyi, decried the situation, describing it as another round of suffering for Nigerians.