The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a stern warning to telecoms customers not to permit their National Identification Number (NIN) to be connected to some other people’s Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, no matter the relationship they have with the person.
This statement was issued during the NCC’s third Telecom Consumer Town Hall on Radio (TCTHR) program, which was streamed live on Human Rights and featured on the NCC Digital Signature on the Radio platform.
The NCC Digital Signature on Radio is the Commission’s primary radio show, developed to enlighten the general public about the Commission’s duties and to share relevant, consumer-centric, and current knowledge on how the Commission is carrying out those responsibilities.
Efosa Idehen, NCC’s Director, Customer Affairs Bureau, remarked during a radio program focusing on ‘the Benefits of NIN-SIM Integration’ that no telecom consumer, under any circumstances, should enable another person to activate a SIM with another person’s NIN.
Compliance with this recommendation, according to Idehen, will safeguard the genuine owner of the NIN from any obligations or bad effects resulting from the usage of someone else’s SIM.
He went on to say that if the individual whose SIM is tied to your line uses his own SIM to perpetrate crimes or catastrophes, it will be easy to find you and you will be prosecuted since the SIM is connected to your NIN.
The timeframe for NIN-SIM integration is October 31, 2021, as was mentioned numerous times on the radio broadcast. The Federal Government had already delayed the timeframe for the NIN-SIM link’s implementation to October 31, 2021.
Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, was in the studio with Efosa, as was an Assistant Director in the department, Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan; and Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, NCC’s Deputy Director, Projects Department, who collectively informed users on the different facets of the NIN-SIM integration process.
Mistura Aruna, the NCC’s Head of Consumer Information and Education; Kayode Adegoke, the NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communication; and officials from mobile providers MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9Mobile are among the other panelists.
Consumers in Nigeria and the diaspora, particularly from the United Kingdom (UK), Russia, and neighboring countries like Ghana, were able to contact and seek explanations on issues they had about the current NIN-SIM merger in Nigeria during the two-hour phone-in phase of the radio program.
The majority of the conversations centered on informing consumers about NIN and its intention, the method of getting NIN, why consumers are being required to give their NIN to their Mobile Network Service Providers, the advantages of NIN-SIM linkage, the correlation between NIN and Bank Verification Number (BVN) registration, the stage to linking NIN to SIM, and the role and uses of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) *346# in the NIN-S
Because of a mix of regular radio listenership and viewing on Human Rights Radio’s social media assets, the two-hour discussion program, which was also live-streamed on social media, had a higher level of involvement than its predecessors.
Hence, it accomplished NCC’s goal of employing mass media to broaden its exposure to telecom users in an effort to improve the performance of consumer perception with telecom services in Nigeria by decimating information and educating them.
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild weekly digest for updates
