The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has arrested three agents companies for flouting the commission’s guidelines on the registration of SIM cards in Nigeria.
The arrests were a result of a joint sting operation carried out by the commission in collaboration with security agencies.
Speaking to newsmen after the arrest, the commission’s head of enforcement, Efosa Idehen, said the suspects were nabbed while they were using the SIM registration machines to illegally pre-register SIM cards with the same thumb prints, before selling them.
According to him, after pre-registering such cards, they are sold to members of the public which is against the NCC policy on SIM cards registration.
Idehen said: “NCC’s policy is that SIM cards are registered with biometric data of the individual owner obtained directly and not through proxy.
“Aside from using it to fight criminals, NCC uses the data for other purposes. But these days, we find people buying cards and registering with fake names and bio-data.”
He therefore encouraged Nigerians to desist from purchasing such pre-registered lines.
He added: “When you buy any SIM card, you have 30 days to make calls if you can’t register it immediately, but every SIM card must be registered within the 30 days of purchase.”
