Many Nigerians have frowned at a recent statement issued by the management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on the identified 88 illegal spots for SIM card registrations where pre-registration of SIM cards and other forms of dirty registration are carried out across the country.
Whereas the Commission announced that arrangements are being made to carry out raids on the identified 88 locations nationwide, security experts who reviewed the statement, decried lack of security information management on intelligence on the side of the agency.
According to Dr Dan Akhighe, a security consultant, he said “For NCC to announce that it has just identified a number of dark spots where illegalities are carried out before making plans for raid is the height of poor intelligence interpretation and management.”
“You don’t reveal to a criminal that you have known his or her hideout before swooping on him. That is nonsense.
Also speaking, another digital security expert who pleaded anonymity expressed worries on the development, saying “To me, it is either NCC is part of the accomplices or is just technically informing the criminals to relocate before they come for raid.”
The expert noted that “The best way of handling the scenario is just to keep mute, conclude surveillance and swoop on their locations in a coordinated raid so as to catch them on their break than giving criminals information that you are about to come after them. Don’t be surprised that by now, the so called 88 locations may have disappeared because nobody or criminal will hear that they are about to be arrested and still remain on the crime at that same spot”.
Business Hilights recalls that the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Mr Sunday Dare had in a statement in Abuja, said the NCC is determined to stop the menace of improperly registered, unregistered and pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) Cards in the country.
He recalled that the Commission’s collaboration with the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to end the dangerous practice recently resulted in the raid of Central Market, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State and the arrest of three persons.
He observed that the fight against pre-registration of SIM cards has also received another boost as a meeting held on September 3, 2018 between the Commission, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) came up with better strategies to stamp out the illegal business.
Use of pre-registered SIM card had been found to be one of the ways in which criminals and mainly kidnappers communicate without being traced or caught via online tracking as the SIM card when called on the system will show the picture of underaged who cannot be making the kinds of calls usually made with the SIM card.
