Following the deactivation of unregistered Subscriber
Identification Module (SIM) cards by operators, the
Nigerian telecommunications regulatory authority, the
Nigerian Communications (NCC) yesterday said that
only those subscribers who register their SIM cards
properly would have them reactivated.
This clarification, according to the NCC Director,
Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo has become necessary
following the deluge of enquiries at the Commission some
of which alluded to the impression that their SIM cards
have been withdrawn permanently. “This is not the
situation,” Ojobo said yesterday in the statement.
Meanwhile, the ultimatum to deactivate unregistered
SIM card expired on Tuesday this week. But enquires
as to the status of the SIM cards necessitated this
statement.
It would be recalled that the operators were told among
others to ensure compliance of all registration with the
data dictionary, technical specifications on finger prints
and facial images and the business rules agreed by all
stakeholders.
According to him, the deactivation exercise and decision
was a result of a meeting with the office of National
Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State
Service (DSS), the NCC and operators “after which
the operators were given one-week to deactivate those
unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards.”
“The operators were specifically told that those
subscribers whose lines were not registered and have not
made any effort to register them should be communicated
before deactivation.
“So the deactivation of these SIM cards is in line with
that meeting. Subscribers who fail to register properly
will have their lines deactivated but those who comply
will have them reactivated.
“Proper registration means a subscriber’s facial pictures,
properly captured, biometrics/finger prints, valid means
of identification, address, among others,” he explained.
He said that these were part of the security measures to
check incessant cases of crimes with the use of mobile
phones.
“People hide under anonymity to commit crimes because
their lines are not registered, but all that has to change
as the network operators have been told what to do.”, he
added.
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