Telecoms: Tijani highlights measures to track fraudulent phone calls, communication

*Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister, highlights a connectivity strategy involving satellite upgrades and fibre optic expansion, to address fraudulent calls and criminal activities in the country’s telecoms space

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Against the backdrop of citizens’ groundswell of complaints about tackling fraudulent calls in the telecoms ecosystem, the Federal Government has highlighted ongoing measures to address insecurity, through the telecommunications space in Nigeria.

Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (FMCIDE), affirmed this development while featuring in an interview on Channels TV, monitored in Lagos.

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Tijani said the burning issue of tracking fraudulent calls and communication in cyberspace is “far more technical” than commonly understood by many.

It is noted that the telecoms sector has been under scrutiny since 2020, when the Nigerian Government introduced the mandatory National Identification Number–Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) integration in order to curb fraud, anonymous communication, and crimes being facilitated through unregistered phone lines in the telecoms environment.

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The Minister, in the interview, acknowledged Nigerians’ concerns over cases of banditry, kidnapping, and ransom negotiations reportedly conducted through unregistered, active SIMs in circulation.

Tijani explained: “There was an exercise that was conducted by the telcos to clean out all SIMs.

“The reason the President (Tinubu) pushed us to invest in towers in those areas was the fact that we realised there was a special type of technology they [criminals] were using to call.”

How criminal networks now operate in cyberspace

Speaking on the government’s discovery regarding activities of criminal networks in the ecosystem, Minister Tijani disclosed that some criminal networks had shifted tactics.

He said they had relied technologies that would allow them to route phone calls across multiple towers.

The Minister described this development as a method that becomes particularly effective in remote or poorly connected locations across the country.

Tijani averred: “They were not using the normal towers; they bounce calls off multiple towers.

“That’s why they enjoy living in areas that are unconnected.”

Measures to address identified vulnerabilities in digital ecosystem, by Tijani

As part of efforts at addressing these vulnerabilities, the Minister outlined a connectivity strategy involving satellite upgrades and fibre optic expansion.

Tijani emphasised that Nigeria remains the “only West African country” currently operating its own communications satellites.

He described this digital infrastructure capability as one the Federal Government is now strengthening.

He asserted: “This is why we are upgrading our two satellites, so that if our towers are not working, our satellites will work.”

As regard the possible timeframe for action of these satellite upgrades, the Minister said satellite deployment, however, remained “the third leg” of the broader connectivity operation to address the issues fraudulent cum criminal networks exploiting the telecoms infrastructure.

Tijani noted: “That one will take longer than the other two. The other two are well in progress.”

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