The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday said that telecommunication operators, who failed to comply with the deactivation of invalid and improper registered SIM cards, will be sanctioned.
Mr Efosa Idehen, NCC’s Head of Enforcement Monitoring and Regulation, re-assured Nigerians while briefing the media in Lagos.
According to Idehen, the enforcement team’s visits to the operators after the expiration of the deadline, showed that they were not prepared to conform to regulatory directive.
“When we appeared on their doorsteps unannounced, they were caught napping.
“This exercise is for national security and must be accorded the attention and urgency it deserves,” he said.
He said that NCC directive was part of a policy to correct existing anomalies in the nation’s telecommunication data base.
Idehen said that as at September 2014 when the data base was scrubbed various numbers were sent to the operators for re-validation.
He said 18.6 million numbers were sent to MTN while Airtel got 7.4 million numbers for re-validation.
Glo and Etisalat networks also received 2.3 million numbers and 10.46 million numbers, respectively.
He also said a visit to the MTN, earlier in August, showed the telecommunication company had not complied with the directive.
Airtel, Glo and Etisalat networks, he said had achieved partial compliance, as only 2.3 million, 3.5 million and 3.3 million lines, were barred, respectively.
Idehen urged Nigerians to join hands with NCC in this effort so that the right data could be compiled and merged with the national data base.
He also appealed to Nigerians to bear the pain of re-registration if they are asked to do so.
