NCC to help arrest kidnappers via phone lines, says Danbatta

* Commission poised to ensure security of lives of all Nigerians

* Assures telecom consumers of better services for improved businesses

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Against the backdrop of increasing security challenges across the country in recent times, the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC) has collaborated with the security operatives to arrest kidnappers and other criminal elements who use SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards for wrong purposes.

ConsumerConnect learnt that Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC) of NCC, disclosed this while speaking at the 41st Kaduna International Trade Fair.

The Executive Vice-Chairman was represented by Hajia Amina Shehu, Director, Zonal Services, at the event organised by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA).

As regards measures being taken to apprehend kidnappers using phone calls to demand ransom after kidnapping, Hajia Shehu said: “NCC as a regulator is doing so much with the regard to security of lives of all Nigerians.

“One of the fundamental things we are doing to nab all these evil perpetrators is to ensure that your SIM cards are captured and registered.”

The NCC Director stated “we also understand that there are those who evade the registration of SIM cards.

“As a result of this, we have department in the organisation, called a Code Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement department, responsible for making sure that people who registered wrongly or particularly with intent to perpetrate evil act are apprehended. Once we get hold of them, we do the needful.

We work in partnership with security operatives to be able to nab some of the people who registered wrongly, the NCC Director disclosed.

Hajia Shehu assured telecom consumers of better services to improve their businesses, saying the NCC as a national telecom regulator is a consumer-centric organisation, poised to developing consumer protection initiatives like Complaint Channels.

“We have developed the Do-Not-Disturb Code to stop all unsolicited messages, the Mobile Number Portability to enable changing from one service provider without changing ones’ mobile number,” she said.