Former military Governor of Kaduna State, Col Abubakar Umar, has announced he would sue telecoms company, MTN, over unsolicited text messages and fraudulent deductions.
Speaking on Saturday, Umar said he has briefed his lawyers to file the suit against MTN after complaining over unsolicited messages and deductions to no avail.
The retired colonel said despite assurances that it will not happen again, he has started receiving unsolicited messages accompanied by deductions of money from his telephone line.
One of such unsolicited messages subscribed him to a callertune with a charge of N50 with an option to opt out, while the other subscribed him to a package ‘Laugh Out Loud’ also with a fee.
He said the latest messages he received read: “Yello, you have downloaded the callertune by TK SWAG for N50.00. This tune expires on 2016-12-09. To delete the tune, send del0733736
“Dear Customer, you have successfully subscribed to Laugh Out Loud and N50.00 deducted from your account. Your service will be renewed on 2016-11-18. To cancel, text STOP LOL to 55006. Enjoy!”
Umar said it was unfortunate that this practice has continued despite complaints.
It is not about the N50 being deducted from his account, he said.
The former governor said it was fraudulent to deduct money from subscribers without their consent.
He said deducting such N50 from millions of subscribers implies the network is stealing billions of Naira from subscribers on a daily basis.
Umar said he is suing MTN on behalf of 70million subscribers and he believes the subscribers will be his witnesses in court.
“I have briefed my lawyers,” he said on Saturday.
Umar said all attempts to reach the telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), have failed.
