The Federal Government has placed a ban on open registration of SIM cards.
Head of Enforcement Unit at the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Salisu Abdu, made the disclosure in Abuja yesterday while addressing journalists after three persons found registering SIM cards in open places were apprehended.
He revealed that is now illegal for telecom operators or their representatives to do registration of SIM cards in an open or ‘’uncontrolled environment.”
According to Abdu, the commission had issued a directive to all telecom operators since November to stop their agents from registering SIM cards under umbrellas and in kiosks effective from February 1, 2017.
He added, “SIM registration should only be done in a controlled environment- a permanent building with logos and structures of the operators in place – with identities of the agents doing the registration.
“We came up with this so we will be able to trace where SIM cards are registered to stem the tide of rising crimes, especially kidnapping and militancy.”
He further revealed that N5million would be slammed on any dealer or operator who goes against the directive.
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