Terrorists, Bandits Facing Difficulties Over NIN/SIM Linkage — NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday that the linkage of the National Identity Numbers (NIN) with the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) is yielding desired results as it is making the operations of terrorists and bandits difficult.

The Commission explained that the implementation of the policy has denied terrorists and bandits access to telecommunication services.

“What they now do is to use the phones of their victims to communicate while keeping victims in far places. But with time, their methods would not save them,” the Commission assured.

NCC’s Director of Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Ephraim Nwokonanya, made the remarks at the headquarters of the Commission in Abuja while addressing journalists participating in a day capacity building workshop organised by the Commission.

He was represented by the Head of Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Alkasim Umar.

He spoke on the theme “The NIN-SIM linkage, Menace of Network Booster Devices, Compliance, Monitoring, and Enforcement issues in the Telecoms Industry.”

He said appreciable progress has been made regarding NIN-SlM linkage to address the rising cases of insurgency, kidnapping and banditry in the country.

Umar lamented the illegal use of network boosters by some subscribers, saying the commission would not hesitate to persecute Nigerians using network boosters in their homes and offices at the detriment of others.

Umar said: “Yes, we are making progress. The only challenge we are faced with now is if they kidnap you, they use your number to call. They will never use their phones lines; it is the kidnapped person’s phone number they use to call and switch it off immediately.

“They can keep you at a different place and make phone calls somewhere else. If a phone is off, there is no way one can trace it. It’s a big challenge.

“Even at the National Assembly, someone brought this up, to ban all kidnappers’ lines. Some people objected, that if they use a person number to make calls, why can’t the Federal Government block the terrorists/bandits phone numbers.

“Then someone rose up to say there will be more killings. This is because kidnappers are after victims’ money so there is no way it will curb the problem. But now there is progress, because they are being denied of SIM cards.”

The Director of Public Affairs, NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, said the capacity training was premised on the Commission’s recognition of the important roles of media in its activities and called for more synergy and collaboration with the NCC.