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The Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a directive on the maximum numbers of personal SIM Cards a single individual could register.

The fresh directive which states that the limited the maximum numbers of SIM Cards a single individual could register as his or hers is three, was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.

According to Pantami, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to carry out the directive and has also been advised to revise the Policy on SIM Card registration and usage by blocking all the loopholes in the current policy in a bid to curb kidnapping and banditry.

The updated policy, according to Pantami, is expected to ensure that the National Identity Number (NIN) becomes a prerequisite for Nigerians registering new SIM cards.

Other directives from the minister to NCC include: ‘’Ensure that subscribers can easily check the number of SIM cards registered to their name, along with the associated phone numbers and networks.

“Ensure that mobile network operators fortify their networks against cyber-attacks and ensure that they adhere to the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

“Ensure that SIM cards that have been used to perpetrate crimes are permanently deactivated.’’

Pantami also ordered the NCC to provide him with progress reports on the implementation of the revised Policy.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has intensified regulatory efforts towards protecting the interest of telecoms consumers from the scourge of financial frauds through its multi-sectoral collaboration approach.

The commission demonstrated this at the 2019 fourth quarter Open Forum of the NCC’s Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) in Abuja.
Addressing participants at the forum, Adeleke Adewolu, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC, said there has been growing concern over the rising trend of electric frauds across key sectors of the Nigerian economy with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rating e-fraud as the biggest risk on the financial sector where the using of e-channels to conduct financial transactions has become the order of the day.
Adewolu noted that telecoms sector is not immune to the scourge of electronic-related frauds, as attackers now target telecoms networks with the intent to disrupt service delivery and infiltrate their data banks.
“Illegal subscriber identification module (SIM) swaps and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) e-payment frauds, are currently some of the most serious cyber threat in the telecoms industry/ Fraudsters conduct illegal SIM swap of targeted individuals and then, conduct USSD-based transactions which cost the unlucky victims huge losses,” he said.
Adewolu noted that the NCC, in dealing with the menace and in line with its fundamental regulatory responsibilities of protecting the interest of consumers, has been working closely with other stakeholder to implement technical and operational solutions to financial fraud using telecoms platforms.
“Just as we have demonstrated through ICAF, the NCC has embraced a multi-sectoral synergy to harmonise the activities of critical stakeholders responsible for combating financial fraud committed through telecoms platforms and we will continue to strengthen this,” he added.
Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, who listed the various efforts the “Commission has been taking in protecting telecoms consumers said it is the NCC’s conviction that through adequate education, information sharing and provision of an array of channels of redress, we can safeguard telecom consumers and innovatively promote the prospect for greater consumer experience.”
Source:Dailypost.ng

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