NIGERIA NOT ALONE IN SIM CARD REGISTRATION

 Sonny Aragba-Akpore argues the exercise is for the good of the people

While some Nigerians bicker and are uncomfortable with the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card registration, and integration with the National Identity Numbers (NINs) it should be noted that the country is not alone in this exercise even when it appears to be a late comer.

   Indeed, Nigeria is a late starter in this regard.
Although, we must admit that there have been bottlenecks and complexities dogged by inconveniences dotting the process, the exercise is for the general good of the people.

    But victims of barred SIM cards seem to have limited understanding as to why the exercise was introduced at all.
In reality, government has advanced several reasons for the exercise primarily linked to security challenges and activities of criminal elements in the society.

Financial crimes through SIM swap underlines why government imposes SIM registration to protect consumers. Kidnapping for ransom, banditry and threats to lives via telephone are also strong reasons for the exercise.

It is also means of verifying the identity of a SIM user and safeguarding both the user’s identity and mobile line from SIM related crimes.

  Besides curtailing crimes, the sim registration strengthens capacity of law enforcement agencies to tackle criminal use of mobile phones by checkmating activities of criminals.

This equally helps in identity verification process and thus enables more secured transactions and interactions using mobile devices to boost confidence and participation in the digital economy.  

    Nigeria took a decision to go beyond just the SIM card registration but to link such SIM cards to their National Identity Numbers (NINs).
In December 2023,the regulator,Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ordered Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect and bar Subscribers whose SIM cards were not linked to their NINs by February 28,2024.
By that date, no fewer than 42million subscribers were  disconnected and barred from their various networks.
Government took the decision of this linkage in order to minimize criminal activities and other vices perpetrated via telecommunications networks.
The country occupies an unenviable cybercrime 

 position in global crime index.

  So in order to curtail and address all of these challenges, government said, register your SIM card so we know who owns which line especially now that terrorism and kidnapping for ransom have become a major revenue avenue for alleged criminals.

   Barring improperly registered SIM cards was a long route taken by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Through several deadline extensions, the integration of SIM card to NIN data began in December 2020 and  was officially closed on April 4, 2022 after which MNOs were consequently directed to suspend services through one way barring to SIMs not associated with NIN with effect from  that date.

An official explained that “In this regard, SIMs not associated with NINs were partially barred 

for outgoing calls and subsequently removed after integrating them to their NINs.”

And under the Know Your Customer (KYC) drive, quite a number of subscribers NINs were unverified against the KYC records associated with the SIM and require regularisation

including subscribers with over 100 SIMs (and in some cases more than 10,000) associated with NINs that are unverified and as such the identities of the actual SIMs users cannot be ascertained.

“This has grave national security implications, necessitating the robust verification requirements and subsequent barring of these SIMs to ensure as may be required and cleanup of the sim registration database, “ another official explained.  Elsewhere in the world, no one gets connected to any network on arrrival without proper documentation including biometrics, passport photos, fingerprints and others.
For instance, in major economies like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan,China and others, no visitor gets connected to any network without proper documentation including biometric identification.
 So Nigeria is not alone in the quest for proper identification of subscribers and users of telecommunications services.
 African countries with mandatory SIM registration laws include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Amidst the widespread adoption of this law on the continent, critics have challenged the strategy especially because it has not adequately curbed the challenges that it intends to tackle stating that the risks of SIM card registration,  outweigh any possible benefits.

In South Africa, the Right2Know Campaign took telecom operators—MTN, Cell C and Telkom— to court on the transparency in handling data provided during SIM registrations. Pre-paid SIM cards are preferred by many mobile phone users. Even at that, Mobile Network Operators have adopted the KYCs module in many African countries.

And the government of Nigeria has gone beyond the KYC by Insisting that all subscribers link their SIM card to the National Identification Number (NIN).
Is there any problem with this?
Many Nigerians think there is but this writer has a different opinion.
The NCC has been in the process of SIM registration since 2011 but some subscribers thought it was a huge joke until the NCC came hard on barring nearly 42million unconnected subscribers to verified NINs ,after which everyone saw the regulator as serious.
 And today, the recalcitrant subscribers remain disconnected from their various networks.
 They have between March 29 and April 15, 2024 to link their SIM cards to their NINs.
  During the course of weeding the system to be sure that the barring exercise is done correctly without hurting innocent subscribers, the NCC found out that there were situations where one single subscriber had 10,000 SIM cards in his name. Apart from multiple pre-registrations ,there were also situations where people even had multiple National Identification Numbers (NINs) and it became even more complicated to observe.
As the cases and different scenarios turned out, the NCC had no choice but to bar those SIM cards based on these discrepancies.
So while affected victims bare their fangs on the regulator and Mobile Network Operators (MNOS),the blame rests squarely on the subscribers who probably never believed nothing would happen afterwards until it happened.They were cut off from the various networks.
  Although the NCC thinks it had done its utmost based on the extant laws and regulations, operators are worried about the number of subscribers lost and by implication, revenue losses too. They think too that it will not be out of place to extend the time line for the SIM and NIN linkage.

Aragba-Akpore is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board