The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has explained why it cannot be held responsible for the increased rate of kidnappings and the inability of the security forces to track criminals despite the NIN, SIM card registration and BVN registration the organization enforced on Nigerians.
The Senate President of the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Henry Okunomo had openly wondered why kidnappers could make contact with a victim’s family without being arrested by security agents despite the technology measures put in place.
“I am not satisfied with the way security agencies are going about the matter. The government cannot tell me there is no other way this kidnapping thing can be nipped in the bud. After all, there are several measures already in place, why are they not working?” he said.
Okunomo was referring to how the NCC started SIM card registration in 2011; the Nigerian Identity Number, NIN enrolment in 2015; the NIN-SIM and BVN Registration exercise in 2020, and even the NigComSat-1R Communications satellite which the country shot into orbit in 2012.
However, despite all these measures, bandits, and kidnappers operate recklessly with the crime rate very high.
But the NCC has defended its policies saying that the fault is not from them.
“Yes, we were adamant on the deadline of the NIN-SIM linkage because of several dangerous security trends we discovered. Our resolve hinged on the need to close in on the chaos of untoward ownership of multiple SIM cards with unverified NIN details.” A top official at the Commission who craved anonymity reportedly told Vanguard on Saturday, August 31.
“We had instances where a single individual had over 10,000 lines linked to his NIN. In some cases, we have seen a single person with 1,000 lines, some 3,000 plus lines. What were they doing with these lines?
“From our interim findings, the owners of these lines did not purchase them for decent purposes or to undertake legitimate activities. We gave them enough time to make the decision of which of their lines they wanted to keep and discard the others. They did not. All lines in this category with unverified NINs were barred.
“On the issue of kidnappers making calls to victims’ families without being traced, I don’t think that power is residual in our hands. What we know is that whatever support the security agents have sought from us, as far as the national security question is concerned, we have always given to the best of our ability. Our duty is not to track and arrest people who make calls rightly or wrongly the source added.
Also, a satellite Engineer at the Nigerian Communications Satellite Company, NIGCOMSAT LTD, reportedly said:
“One of the misconceptions about our satellite is people believing that it will snap photos or record videos of crime scenes and send them to security agents, but that is not how it works.
“Although NigComSat -1R is a communications satellite, it is not equipped with cameras. It gathers data and digital footprints which on demand, we usually make available to security agencies that can also read and interpret them effectively. So people should not think that because crimes are happening unabated, the satellite is not working or performing its duties” he added.
