Mobile network Etisalat Nigeria has denied allegations that it had illegally barred popular local comedian, Julius Agwu, from its network.

Agwu last week dragged the telecoms firm to court claiming damages of about N10 million for what he said was the illegal porting of his SIM card’s mobile number.

Julius Agwu has pursued his lawsuit against Etisalat as he claimed that he lost expensive contracts during the period that his SIM card was subsequently inactive.

But reacting to the allegation, Chineze Amanfo, manager of public relations at Etisalat Nigeria, said the networked performed a SIM swap on the line after the requester provided the customer care executives with necessary SIM replacement information, in accordance with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) regulations and process for SIM swap.

“Subsequently, upon a report made at our office by Agwu that he is the owner of the line and did not authorise anyone to swap it, our customer care executives promptly restored the line as well as the airtime lost during the swap process,” he said.

Amanfo added that the network was currently carrying out an internal investigation into the incident and that it will refer the matter to the appropriate agencies for further investigation as may be necessary.

“We wish to assure the general public that Etisalat Nigeria is committed to the protection of the rights of its subscribers and to continue to provide value adding services to its customers.

"We will spare no effort to unravel the circumstances surrounding the alleged unauthorised SIM swap while encouraging our customers and the general public to protect their personal information at all times,” he said.

In court papers filed before the courts, Agwu’s lawyer Festus Keyamo claimed that his client suffered losses as a result of the blockage.

“It cannot be overemphasised that your actions of unlawfully blocking and/or swapping our client’s line occasioned loss of business opportunities to him.

"As you are aware, our client as one of the most sought after Nigerian entertainers needs his phone line to be easily accessible to keep his business going. It therefore goes without saying that our client has lost some business opportunities as a result of your actions,” said Keyamo.

Nigeria implemented its mobile number portability (MNP) initiative earlier this year.