Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the regulatory body for the telecoms industry in Nigeria, has opened a partnership arrangement with law enforcement agencies in the country, to edge up its regulatory activities in the industry to outright protection of telecom installations, facilities and infrastructure.
Umar Danbatta, executive vice-chairman of NCC, at a South-South regional workshop in Port Harcourt, to sensitise law enforcement agencies on telecoms issues, said the coming of mobile telecommunication in Nigeria, with its phenomenal growth and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), had also come with proliferation of cyber crimes, theft and vandalism of telecom equipment.
“In the past, and in contemporary times, we have collectively exercised genuine concerns about cyber crimes. However, above and beyond cyber criminality, we have witnessed a very painful rise in tempo of outright theft of telecommunication equipment, as well as vandalism of telecommunication installations, facilities and infrastructure,” Danbatta said, while urging the law enforcement agencies to collaborate with the NCC to tackle the rising menace.
“The task before us therefore, is to form a granite coalition of forces in a renewed strategic partnership with all players in the security sector, to contain every form of criminal assault on telecommunications operations in Nigeria,” the NCC executive vice chairman said.
He equally informed the participants, drawn from the Police, Department of State Security (DSS) and National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that the Commission had also seen a “proliferation in the sale and usage of pre-registered Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards, all of which constitute nasty infractions of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, and other extant regulations governing the telecommunications sector.”
He said NCC, in response to the infractions, had rolled out a bouquet of communication campaigns to create awareness among the general public on the implications and consequences of undermining the integrity of telecoms operation.
“Besides, we have understanding with some other stakeholders to ensure that we provide solutions to many other challenges. Importantly, with your support, we have also carried out raids on criminal clusters to mop up pre-registered SIM cards,” he said.
The NCC EVC informed that the telecoms industry’s contribution to the GDP was nearing 10 percent, saying, “We look forward very enthusiastically to seeing greater development in the sector, because we are irrevocably committed to full implementation of the National Broadband Plan.”
