The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced that Nigerians will have to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity of their phones to it from July.
This was contained in the commission’s Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
It is connected with the regulatory body’s initiative to promote mobile phone safety and reduce the incidence of phone theft and phone-related criminality.
It is therefore the first step in the commencement of the implementation of the Device Management System (a Centralised Equipment Identity Register), which has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
A portion of the policy said, “Accordingly, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has directed that the Device Management System should be implemented within three months.”
The NCC said, “With the aim to curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, discourage mobile phone theft, enhance National Security, protect consumer interest, increase revenue generation for the government, reduce the rate of kidnapping, mitigate the use of stolen phones for crime, and facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones and other smart devices, one of the means to achieve this is through the deployment of Device Management System.
“The implementation of a Centralised Equipment Identity Register otherwise known as Device Management System will serve as a repository for keeping records of all registered mobile phones’ International Mobile Equipment Identity and owners of such devices.
“IMEIs that have been reported as either stolen or illegal will be shared through the DMS to all the operators and service providers.”
The IMEI number is the mobile phone’s fingerprint. It is a 15-digit number unique to each phone. With the IMEI number, a phone can be tracked and located irrespective of the cellular number in it.
Once this is implemented, it will be difficult for robbers to find buyers for any phone they steal as the phone will never work on any network in the country.
In addition, tracing such a stolen phone and apprehending those in possession of it will become very easy.
When fully implemented, it is expected that the act of using mobile phones to perpetrate criminality, such as calling the families of victims of abduction, will become a very dangerous activity for criminals as this can lead to their easy apprehension by security operatives.
