200 Nigerians in jail for pre-registered SIM cards offences, says NCC

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that it has so far secured no less than 200 convictions on matters relating to sale of pre-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards.

NCC insists that the sale of already registered SIM cards by agents to the public remains a criminal offence.

NCC also disclosed that it is working with the National Assembly to criminalise mobile phone SIM card infractions.

Mr Efosa Idehen, director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement of NCC, made the disclosures in Enugu during a regional sensitisation workshop with stakeholders recently.

The workshop was on the dangers of dealing on fraudulently activated SIM cards.

Idehen stated that it was sad that fraudulently registered SIM cards were still being sold in the open market despite efforts by the regulatory agency to the contrary.

According to him, ” it is the responsibility of NCC to ensure that Nigerians are safe using mobile phones. Mobile Network Operators and their agents must adhere to the laws that prohibit the release of fully activated SIM cards into the market.”

He described the release of pre-registered SIM cards into the market as national sabotage which is capable of eroding national security.

He named the dangers of selling pre-registered SIM cards to include aiding kidnapping, robbery, financial crimes and others. “For eight years now, we have done so many things to curb the sale of pre-registered SIM cards but not getting the desired results.

“We are therefore working on a legal framework to criminalise the release of fraudulently activated SIM cards to the market,” he said.