The Federal Government has warned Nigerians and other telecom networks subscribers against selling their SIM cards that are already linked with their National Identity Numbers (NIN).
It stated that crimes committed with any SIM card would be traced to the owner in whose name it was registered for appropriate action.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami said this had become necessary as 47.8 million Nigerians had linked their SIM cards with their NINs.
Dr Pantami, after a review of the on-going NIN registration exercise with the Ministerial Task Force, commended Nigerians for the massive turnout for the exercise.
The Minister’s positiobs were contained in a statement by the Director of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde.
He reportedly urged Nigerians to be mindful of the need to protect and secure their NINs and SIMs.
According to the statement, “The Technical Implementation Committee under the Ministerial Task Force has reported significant progress in the ongoing NIN-SIM linkage exercise.
“So far a total of 47.8 million NINs have been collected by the mobile operators. At an average of 3 to 4 SIMs per subscriber, this means many millions will be linked up before the deadline in February 2021.”
The report of the committee noted that the Minister expressed satisfaction with the achievement.
Adinde stated that the Federal Government expressed appreciation for the commitment demonstrated by all stakeholders and citizens and urged them to submit their NINs before 9th February, 2021 deadline.
The Minister urged the technical team to fast-track the processes so that the project is delivered soonest.
Adinde said: “The Technical Committee drew attention to the App developed by FGN which allows subscribers to link up to a maximum of seven (7) SIMs to their NIN.
“The Minister concluded by reminding Nigerians to secure and protect their NINs, urging subscribers to desist from selling their NINs or allowing others to use their NINs for registration.
“For any action committed with the SIM good or bad it will be officially traced and attached to the NIN owner.”
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