Five suspects have been arrested over alleged involvement in fraudulent Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards selling and registration.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which handed the suspects over to security agencies, said the move is part of its routine enforcement activities to sanitise the industry of criminal elements.
According to the commission, the hitch-free operation was carried out by a joint team from the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department of NCC, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Tuesday, in the Wuse area of Abuja.
In a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC said the arrested suspects were subsequently handed over to the NSCDC Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Wuse, Abuja for further investigation.
NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Salisu Abdu, who led the joint operation, said the exercise which is aimed at ridding the industry of criminal elements engaging in fraudulent registration of SIM cards, will also extend to other parts of the country.
Abdu said pre-registering a SIM card is an offence punishable under relevant regulations in the telecom sector and constitutes a breach of national security.
“It is criminal and fraudulent to pre-register a SIM card in Nigeria and it is an offence punishable under the law. Though the Federal Government recently lifted the ban on sale of new SIM cards, it should be noted that proper registration of SIM cards and linking them to National Identity Number (NIN) before activation has now become a prerequisite,” he said.
He warned those who are engaged in the unlawful registration of SIM cards to desist from the illegal act, noting that the Commission will continue to collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies in its routine enforcement activities in order to rid the industry of individuals, who have resolved to contravene SIM registration regulations.
