MTN Nigeria Takes Data Truth Campaign to Port Harcourt Traders After Depletion Complaints

MTN Nigeria launched a "Data Truth" awareness campaign at Mile 3 Market in Port Harcourt on November 11, 2026, telling traders that background apps and high-quality video streaming, not the operator, exhaust their data bundles. Punch Newspapers reported the launch, which followed subscriber complaints about alleged unauthorised data usage.

How the Port Harcourt Data Truth Launch Worked

MTN Nigeria ran the sensitisation through its partner firm, Multinz Communications Company, at the Rivers State market. Terry Igho, an official of Multinz Communications Company, said the operator planned the campaign in phases to reach traders, students and high-value segments of society.

Igho said, "We are here to just educate people on how their data is being dispensed. That it is actually being used by them and nobody is actually scraping it." He said the market segment sessions carry the Data Truth name, while the student sessions are called Data on Trial.

Igho attributed rapid data exhaustion to apps left running in the background and to content creators posting heavy videos to earn more. "Creators want to earn from their content, so they go for high-quality videos," he said. He advised subscribers to minimise unused applications, limit simultaneous video streaming and switch off automatic downloads of photographs and videos in WhatsApp groups.

MTN Nigeria is the country's largest mobile telecom operator, providing voice, data, mobile money and fibre broadband. The company denied that it or any of its officials steals subscribers' data.

MTN Nigeria's Scale Behind the Data Debate

According to akta.pro company records, MTN Nigeria reported service revenue of N5.17 trillion for 2025, a 55.1% year-on-year increase, with data revenue up 74.5% to N2.78 trillion. The operator grew its subscriber base to 87.3 million, including 53.2 million active data users, up 8% year on year. It posted profit after tax of N1.1 trillion in 2025, compared with a N400.4 billion loss in 2024.

Earlier MTN Nigeria Data Complaints

On October 27, 2026, MTN Nigeria attributed rapid data depletion to high-resolution streaming, automatic downloads and background apps, dismissing allegations of deliberate deductions, Punch Newspapers reported. Two days later, Representative Peter Akpatason said at MTN Nigeria's Data on Trial event that subscribers consume all the data they buy, debunking the belief in data depletion, according to THISDAYLIVE. In June 2026, MTN held a public hearing in Lagos on subscribers' concerns about data consumption.

What Comes Next for MTN Nigeria's Campaign

MTN Nigeria planned the sensitisation in phases covering traders, students and high-value segments, with the student sessions branded Data on Trial. The company appointed five new independent non-executive directors, including former Etisalat Nigeria executives Ibrahim Dikko and Boye Olusanya, effective December 1, Telecompaper reported.