Having been questioned over the increased rate of kidnappings and lack of tracking of the criminals despite the NIN, sim card and BVN registration in Nigeria, the Nigerian Communication Commission has defended itself by revealing the reasons behind.
Recall that the Senate President of the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Henry Okunomo had wondered why kidnappers can make contact with a victim’s family without being arrested by security agents despite the nation’s communication advancement so far.
Speaking he said; “am not satisfied with the way security agencies are going about the matter. The government cannot tell me there is no other way this kidnapping thing can be nipped in the bud. After all, there are several measures already in place, why are they not working?”
These he said in reference to the NCC SIM card registration in 2011; the Nigerian Identity Number, NIN enrolment in 2015; the NIN-SIM and BVN Registration exercise in 2020, and even the NigComSat-1R Communications satellite which the country shot into orbit in 2012.
Okunomo maintained that despite all these measures, bandits, and kidnappers operate recklessly with the crime rate still very high in the country.
Meanwhile, in defense to its policies and measures so far, a top official of the commission who craved anonymity reportedly told Vanguard on Saturday, August 31 that it’s not their fault.
In his words; “Yes, we were adamant on the deadline of the NIN-SIM linkage because of several dangerous security trends we discovered. Our resolve hinged on the need to close in on the chaos of untoward ownership of multiple SIM cards with unverified NIN details.”
“We had instances where a single individual had over 10,000 lines linked to his NIN. In some cases, we have seen a single person with 1,000 lines, some 3,000 plus lines. What were they doing with these lines?
“From our interim findings, the owners of these lines did not purchase them for decent purposes or to undertake legitimate activities. We gave them enough time to make the decision of which of their lines they wanted to keep and discard the others. They did not. All lines in this category with unverified NINs were barred.
“On the issue of kidnappers making calls to victims’ families without being traced, I don’t think that power is residual in our hands. What we know is that whatever support the security agents have sought from us, as far as the national security question is concerned, we have always given to the best of our ability. Our duty is not to track and arrest people who make calls rightly or wrongly the source added.
Also, a satellite Engineer at the Nigerian Communications Satellite Company, NIGCOMSAT LTD, reportedly said:
“One of the misconceptions about our satellite is people believing that it will snap photos or record videos of crime scenes and send them to security agents, but that is not how it works.
Also he added; “Although NigComSat -1R is a communications satellite, it is not equipped with cameras. It gathers data and digital footprints which on demand, we usually make available to security agencies that can also read and interpret them effectively. So people should not think that because crimes are happening unabated, the satellite is not working or performing its duties.”
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