DISTURBED by the imminent dangers of rising incidences of improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module, SIM, cards, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has warned that the situation, if left uncontrolled, could cause serious security breach in the country. The commission has set up a 12-man taskforce to stem the scourge.

The NCC said it would no longer tolerate any telecoms operator that still accommodates improperly registered and pre-registered SIM cards on their networks. The terms of reference for the taskforce include ensuring that operators put in place a robust and active back end to check cases of improperly registered SIM Cards before activation.

The taskforce should also look at the sources of these improperly and pre-registered SIM cards by asking operators to look inwards to forestall insider abuse. They are to ensure processes are regularly fine-tuned to establish the integrity of data captured; and clear up the systems regularly to wipe off an segregate between real and fake data.

Other terms of reference are: the taskforce is to re-examine the 2015 agreement the commission had with telcos with a view to harmonising that and add new solutions; to put in place proactive measures to nip criminals activities in the bud, beating them in their own game; and suggest preventive measures for the telcos to beef up the integrity of their registering processes.

The Taskforce which has six weeks to submit its report to Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, for onward transmission to the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, has Efosa Idehen, head, Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement, NCC, as chairman. Other members include Bashir Idris, head, Projects, NCC; Yetunde Akinloye, head, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC; and Salisu Abdu, head, Enforcement, NCC.

The telecoms operators are also members of the taskforce, but with a single representative from each operator, which include Tobechukwu Okigbo from MTN; Oluwatosin Cole from GloMobile; Sola Adeyemi from Airtel and Damian Udeh from Ntel. Others include Ikenna Iheme from 9mobile; Gbolahan Thomas from Smile Communications and Barbara Anozia from Visafone. Emmanuel Akpan Bassey, respresnets the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The assignment given to the taskforce takes immediate effect.

– Nov 3, 2017 @ 12:14 GMT |