NCC reveals Nigerians to tender phone IDs from July

 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that Nigerians will have to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity of their phones to it from July.

This was contained in the Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration issued by the NCC on Thursday, May 20.

The NCC’s move to start the implementation of the Device Management System (a Centralised Equipment Identity Register) is backed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The NCC said, “With the aim to curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market; discourage mobile phone theft; enhance National Security; protect consumer interest; increase revenue generation for the government; reduce the rate of kidnapping; mitigate the use of stolen phones for crime; and also facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones; as well as other smart devices, one of the means to achieve this is through the deployment of Device Management System.

“The implementation of a Centralised Equipment Identity Register otherwise known as Device Management System will serve as a repository for keeping records of all registered mobile phones’ International Mobile Equipment Identity and owners of such devices.

“IMEIs that have been reported as either stolen or illegal will be shared; through the DMS to all the operators and service providers.”

The IMEI number is the mobile phone’s fingerprint. It is a 15-digit number unique to each phone. With the IMEI number, a phone can be tracked; and located irrespective of the cellular number in it.