The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the fight against the use of unregistered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards for cybercrimes and other criminal activities in the country is yielding results.
NCC Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Adinde said that the NCC had through collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), and the Department of State Services (DSS), secured convictions for SIM card related offences.
He said that a Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja and a Magistrate’s Court in Kano convicted seven persons for SIM card registration related offences.
“The arrest of the suspects followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NCC, NSCDC and DSS to strengthen inter-agency collaboration towards curbing the criminal act of registering and selling of pre-registered SIM cards in the country,” Adinde said.
He said that the use of pre-registered SIM cards gave cover for unwholesome activities like kidnapping, call masking, threat to lives, bullying, armed robbery, identity theft financial crimes and SIM swap fraud, among others.
Adinde urged Nigerians to stop the sale, purchase and use of pre-registered SIM cards because it was a punishable offence under the law. (NAN)
