EFFORTS by the National Communications Commission, NCC, to rid the country of improperly and illegally acquired SIM cards of the various GSM service providers in the country hit brick wall in Warri, Delta State.
The failure,Saturday Vanguard learnt was the inability by the relevant unit of regulatory body to obtain the necessary permission for the arrested of those who allegedly go against the NCC guidelines on the sale and registration of SIM cards by mobile phone owners in Nigeria.
Mr. Efosa Idehen, Head of Enforcement at the NCC, told journalists in that the NCC had reliable information earlier in the year, which revealed that activated, pre-registered SIM cards were being sold in certain outlets in the Warri area.
According to him, they had carried out investigation between February and March and relevant reports were made to the management of the Commission, which subsequently directed an operation to arrest and prosecute defaulters or marketers who were undermining the security-oriented process of SIM card acquisition.
This action is coming on the heels of a meeting yesterday between the NCC and GSM companies operating in Nigeria that were recently fined over what the commission termed unsatisfactory performance relating to certain timeline for improved services.
Four GSM service providers, including MTN, Glo, Airtel and Etisalat were recently fined a total N1.17 Billion (about US $7.3 million) for failing to meet the NCC deadline to step up their services to meet target set by NCC.
Source: Vanguard