Appreciation Gone Wrong as MTN Nigeria Finally Restores Customer's Debts

Nigeria experienced a technical glitch in the early hours of Saturday, November 11, 2023, which led to the omission of customer debt involving both airtime and data. 

This situation alone caused controversies online as many customers who had debt running in thousands made appreciation posts on X, formerly Twitter thanking the service provider for clearing their debt through these hard times.

While this was going on, many customers were reported to have borrowed even more airtime and data since their previous debt was reported to be cleared by MTN as they claimed that the bonanza would last long following the forthcoming yuletide.

The weekend was going well as many customers even regretted to have not borrowed before the news, while others complained that they cleared their debt a day before the news. 

Reactions From X Users

It was in the afternoon around noon that MTN Nigeria released a statement following the widespread jubilation of debt cancellation as the telecom giants pointed it categorically that the debt cancellation witnessed was a result of a technical glitch which MTN said its engineers would fix and all previous balance will roll in accordingly.

It reads,

Y’ello

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc can confirm a system glitch impacting balance enquiries. As a result, some customers may receive error messages showing that their balances have been cleared.

This is not the case and all balances will reflect accurate figures once the problem is resolved.

Our engineers are currently working to ensure this. Please accept our apologies.

This statement came in the afternoon after the party was about to start. However, it was discovered that only Nigerians experienced the debt cancellation glitch. 

As of today, many balances are back to normal as some customers are worried about how to clear their debt while those who borrowed after the glitch have their balances accumulated. 

Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that Africa’s leading telecom firm MTN has over 85 million users of its network in Nigeria with 38.58% penetration of the population of the country.