The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecommunications companies in the country to suspend the sales and reactivation of new SIM cards.
In a December 7 letter, the commission said
it is going embarking on an audit of the subscriber registration database.
“In accordance with the federal government directive to
consolidate the achievement of the SIM card registration exercise and verify
compliance, the commission is embarking on an audit of the subscriber
registration database to ensure compliance to set quality standards and
requirements,” the letter signed by A.I. Sholanke, NCC director for projects,
read.
“Accordingly, you are hereby directed to suspend the sale
and activation of new SIM cards on your network until the audit exercise is
completed.
“However, when it is absolutely necessary, an exemption may
be granted following approval from the federal government through the Nigerian
Communications Commission.
“Please note that failure to comply with this directive will
be met with strict sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of
operating license.”
A statement released by Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC director for
public affairs, on Wednesday said the directive became necessary against the
background of the “preponderance of pre-registered SIMs with the attendant
security implications associated with the use of same to facilitate criminal
activities”.
In May 2019, the NCC had announced that the second phase of
an audit of SIM registration data and registration processes.
The exercise started in 2011 with the introduction of the
Subscriber Registration Regulations and registration specifications in 2011.
It hit a climax in August 2015 when telcos were given a
deadline to disconnect SIMs found not to be fully compliant with registration
requirements, with the attendant consequences.
In 2019, the commission announced that it found that the SIM
registration of 95.7 million subscribers was not properly carried out.
In November 2015, the NCC fined all the four major telcos
for violating of Section 20(1) of the Registration of Telephone Subscribers
Regulation of 2011.
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