Want to buy a new SIM card? Too tired to wait in line and register the SIM? Send your goat or yam instead according to this report from The Telegraph… SIM card registration agents across the
country are using pictures of goats and
foodstuff instead of human beings during the registration process, Efosa Idehen, the Head, Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), said on Monday.
He said: “It may interest you to know that
after the telephone operators might have
completed their own part of the registration
and forwarded it to us as the regulators; we
sometimes find pictures of goats and yams.
We also do find pictures of women with
men’s name and vice versa.
“When information got to the NCC that some people were buying SIM cards without their biometrics, it became worrisome to us
because the main purpose of SIM card registration was going to be defeated.”
According to Idehen, investigation by the
regulator showed that SIM cards that were not registered were used by criminals like
kidnappers.
He added that the pre-activated SIM cards
were usually sold at a premium sum of N 1,500 as against N100 for the normal ones.
“We have had to sanction GSM operators in the past for not monitoring the activities of their agents,” he said. “Anyone who sells fully activated SIM cards is as guilty as the person who registers the card because they are not supposed to be registered before sale.
“In Osun state, I arrested some teenagers of
13 and 14 years of age, took them to their
parents and verbally warned them that what
their children were doing would land them in
problem.”
Idehen said anyone found with pre-activated
SIM cards would be prosecuted and may end
up paying a fine of N 200,000.
The NCC is mandated to create a credible data base of Nigerians using the GSM.
country are using pictures of goats and
foodstuff instead of human beings during the registration process, Efosa Idehen, the Head, Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement of Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), said on Monday.
He said: “It may interest you to know that
after the telephone operators might have
completed their own part of the registration
and forwarded it to us as the regulators; we
sometimes find pictures of goats and yams.
We also do find pictures of women with
men’s name and vice versa.
“When information got to the NCC that some people were buying SIM cards without their biometrics, it became worrisome to us
because the main purpose of SIM card registration was going to be defeated.”
According to Idehen, investigation by the
regulator showed that SIM cards that were not registered were used by criminals like
kidnappers.
He added that the pre-activated SIM cards
were usually sold at a premium sum of N 1,500 as against N100 for the normal ones.
“We have had to sanction GSM operators in the past for not monitoring the activities of their agents,” he said. “Anyone who sells fully activated SIM cards is as guilty as the person who registers the card because they are not supposed to be registered before sale.
“In Osun state, I arrested some teenagers of
13 and 14 years of age, took them to their
parents and verbally warned them that what
their children were doing would land them in
problem.”
Idehen said anyone found with pre-activated
SIM cards would be prosecuted and may end
up paying a fine of N 200,000.
The NCC is mandated to create a credible data base of Nigerians using the GSM.