Terrorism: No Unregistered SIM Cards on Operators’ Network, Telcos Insist

* Say kidnappers using victims’ phones to contact families for ransom
Emma Okonji

Following concerns raised over the use of phones to negotiate ransom by terrorists despite the NIN-SIM registration, telecoms operators (Telcos) have said there were no unregistered SIM cards on the network of any service provider in the country, insisting that all registered SIM cards can be traced to their users and owners for any security reasons.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo, clarified concerns that kidnappers who recently invaded the Abuja-Kaduna train and kidnapped several persons, still used mobile phones with registered SIM cards to contact the families of their victims.

While responding to the issue, Adebayo told THISDAY that telecoms operators have the data of all registered SIM cards, insisting that the owners could be traced alongside the geo-location of the mobile phone.

He, however, explained that it could be difficult to trace the kidnappers of the Abuja-Kaduna railway train attack who still used mobile phones with registered SIM cards to contact the families of their victims for ransom because the kidnappers used the mobile phones of their victims to make the calls.

“Telecoms operators can trace the geo-location of the phone, from where calls are made with the particular phone and provide the information to security agents for prompt action,” he said.

“Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State recently said the state government knew where the kidnappers were hiding, and this information about the whereabouts of kidnappers is coming from the Information released to security agents by telecoms operators,” Adebayo added.

Adebayo further said: “I need to make it clear to Nigerians that there are no known unregistered SIM cards that are still on the network of any telecoms service provider because all networks have been cleaned up and all unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards have been deactivated from the networks, during the registration and linkage of the National Identification Number (NIN) with the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM), which ended on March 31, 2022. This was according to the orders given to telecoms operators, by the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). So, based on this, there is no SIM card that is registered with the network of any telecoms service provider that cannot to traced to the user and owner.”
It is a legal requirement on the part of the telecoms service providers to keep details of all telecoms subscribers, through their registered SIM cards.

Telecoms operators had pleaded with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who had in the past extended the deadline for NIN-SIM registration several times, before the last deadline that ended on March 31, 2022. “We pleaded for an extension because we wanted to make sure that all Nigerians were registered and their NIN linked to their SIM card,” Adebayo said.

Giving details of the role of telecoms operators in addressing national security issues, Adebayo said telecoms operators have a critical role to play in national security matters by providing the necessary information about those using registered SIM cards to make calls to the family of their victims to negotiate for ransom.

He, however, said information available to them showed that those phones with registered SIM cards used to negotiate with families of victims for ransom, were owned by the victims.

He added that the geo-location of the phones could be traced because the SIM card in the phone is registered to a network, with all the details of the owners stored on the network.

“It is therefore difficult to trace and arrest the kidnappers who use the victim’s phones with registered SIM cards to make calls. What we can do as the operator is to trace the geo-location of the phone and provide such information to security agents,” Adebayo said.

He urged security agents to utilise information provided by telecoms operators, in tracking kidnappers in their geo-locations, adding that all the information and support that the security agents need to do their job effectively have been provided by telecoms operators.

“As a Nigerian, I will advise that security agents should do their best to make good use of information provided by telecoms operators on how to trace SIM cards to their users and owners. They should be able to use the information to track terrorists and bandits who perpetrate evil like kidnapping, using the mobile phone,” Adebayo said.

He, however, commended the security agents for doing a good job in the area of security.
Adebayo said things were getting better in the past months in terms of security and policing, before the recent Abuja-Kaduna train attack.