MTN **********LY RECYCLED MY CONTACT NUMBER

I have been with MTN for over 10 years(IN and OUT of contracts with the same number) but on the 6th of December 2018 afternoon, I noticed that my network was down and I thought that it was one of "those" days where there's a technical glitch and hoped that the connection would be restored. Later on that afternoon, I met a friend who had been trying to contact me but my cellphone is being answered by an unknown person and at that time, I got very worried. I decided to contact the call centre and spoke with Nokulunga who mentioned that my cellphone number was recycled on the 20th of November 2018 and this happens when a number is not in use for over 90 days(I use my number on a daily basis, I had recharged an airtime the previous night and made phone calls). I asked for my number back and she said "unfortunately, you will not get your number back because it has been given to someone else". At that time, I was losing my cool and I requested for a Team Leader or a Manager on duty. I was transferred to someone else and I can't remember her name. This person told me that they are unable to return my number because their system shows that it is still active, so I need to go to a police station and get an affidavit(What am I going to write on my statement?). This person was becoming useless to me, so i decided to call my number and luckily, a humble man who is now using my number answered and when I told him that he is using my number, he was also shocked because he was wondering why he had been receiving my bank sms notifications because I did a couple of transactions on that day. He then mentioned that we share a similar number but he is on 073 and i am on 078. He purchased a sim card from an MTN personnel on the street in Mafikeng, and he told them he needed a sim swap to his number but they went ahead and gave him my number and not his. I asked this man to switch off my number so that MTN can revert the number back to me and he was very generous. He switched it off, I contacted MTN again, demanded for my number back, and this time around, it was done with less effort. Now, my concern is that my number was recycled when it was active, so why was it a problem to give it back when it was still active on the other end? Why couldn't MTN verify the authenticity of my request with my SIM card number? I have enrolled for MTN Verified so that whenever a sim swap is being performed on my number, i get notified on an alternative. I was never notified on that number and how did they even pass the security questions because I thought that only myself should know these details???????? I am disappointed in you MTN and for the fact that my privacy has been invaded to the public, ya'll owe me an official apology. How do you even allow a fellow on the street to play this stupid games? Your service is ****py and i am compelled to port my number and get a better SP!!!!