Phone Number Verification in Nigeria

Verify that a Nigerian mobile phone number is registered with a carrier and retrieve the subscriber's name and date of birth.

Prerequisites

You'll need an API key. See API Keys to generate one.

Note: Verification endpoints use an API key in the X-API-Key header — not a Bearer token.

Make the request

No networkCode is required for Nigerian numbers — Lira detects the carrier automatically.

curl -X POST https://api.lira.com/api/v1/verify/phone \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "phoneNumber": "08012345678",
    "country": "NG"
  }'

Request fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`phoneNumber`	string	Yes	Local format (`08012345678`) or E.164 (`+2348012345678`)
`country`	string	Yes	Must be `NG`
`mode`	string	No	`sync` (default) or `async`
`webhookUrl`	string	No	Required when `mode` is `async`

Successful response

{
  "id": "ver_b2c3d4e5-...",
  "status": "success",
  "verificationType": "PHONE_NUMBER",
  "identifier": "08012345678",
  "country": "NG",
  "verifiedAt": "2026-03-09T10:06:00.000Z",
  "verified": true,
  "phoneNumber": "08012345678",
  "firstName": "Jane",
  "lastName": "Doe",
  "fullName": "Jane Doe",
  "dateOfBirth": "1990-01-15"
}

Sandbox test data

Phone Number	Expected result
`08000000000`	`success` — returns "Test User"
`08000000001`	`failed` — `SUBSCRIBER_NOT_FOUND`

Error codes

`error.code`	Cause	Action
`SUBSCRIBER_NOT_FOUND`	Number not registered with a carrier	Ask user to verify the number is correct and active
`INVALID_PHONE_NUMBER`	Invalid format	Validate format before submitting
`PROVIDER_ERROR`	Upstream system error	Retry with exponential backoff
`PROVIDER_TIMEOUT`	Upstream system timed out	Retry — transient error

Next steps

Phone Number in Ghana — Ghana requires a networkCode
Async Verification — receive results via webhook
Errors — full error code reference

Overview

Phone Number in Ghana