Henry Okunomo, Senate President of the Nigerian Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has voiced deep concern that in this age of technological advancement, and considering the progress Nigeria has made in tech development, kidnappers can still reach out to victims’ families without being immediately apprehended by security agencies.
During a recent television appearance to discuss the abduction of his colleagues, Okunomo appeared visibly frustrated and clearly dissatisfied with how security agencies are handling the situation.
He stated, “I am not satisfied with the way security agencies are addressing the issue. The government cannot convince me that there is no other way to put an end to these kidnappings. There are already several measures in place—so why aren’t they working?”
Okunomo was referring to measures such as the SIM card registration conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2011, the National Identity Number (NIN) enrollment initiated by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in 2015, the NIN-SIM registration exercise led by the Federal Government in 2020 involving the NCC, NIMC, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and even the NigComSat-1R Communications satellite launched in 2012.
These measures, according to the government, were intended to enhance national security by strengthening the ability of law enforcement agencies to combat the criminal use of mobile phones and monitor criminal activities.
They were also meant to simplify the verification process, enabling more secure transactions and interactions via mobile devices, boosting confidence and participation in the digital economy.
Additionally, these measures aimed to improve governance and service delivery by providing accurate data for policymaking, facilitate secure access to E-government services, and support the implementation of social programs.
However, despite these efforts, bandits and kidnappers continue to operate with impunity. Accounts from victims suggest that either these measures are ineffective, or someone in a position to take action is complicit in the crimes.
One of the reasons the NCC took a hard stance on the deadline for
NIN-SIM linkage was to fulfil its objective to clean the country’s SIM ownership database and ensure that criminals could not take advantage of having multiple unlinked SIMs to carry out their nefarious activities
However, the situation appeared not to have abated. But the Commission insists the fault is not from its end.
A top official at the Commission who craved anonymity told Saturday Vanguard: “Yes, we were adamant on the deadline of the NIN-SIM linkage because of several dangerous security trends we discovered. Our resolve hinged on the need to close in on the chaos of untoward ownership of multiple SIM cards with unverified NIN details. We had instances where a single individual had over 10,000 lines linked to his NIN. In some cases, we have seen a single person with 1,000 lines, some 3,000 plus lines. What were they doing with these lines?
“From our interim findings, the owners of these lines did not purchase them for decent purposes or to undertake legitimate activities. We gave them enough time to make the decision of which of their lines they wanted to keep and discard the others. They did not. All lines in this category with unverified NINs were barred.
“On the issue of kidnappers making calls to victims’ families without being traced, I don’t think that power is residual in our hands. What we know is that whatever support the security agents have sought from us, as far as the national security question is concerned, we have always given to the best of our ability. Our duty is not to track and arrest people who make calls rightly.”
Also, a reliable satellite Engineer at the Nigerian Communications Satellite Company, NIGCOMSAT LTD, who didn’t want his name mentioned, told Saturday Vanguard that the onus of taking action on whatever the communications satellite reveals, in terms of crimes, is squarely at the doorsteps of the security agencies, adding that, the door of the company has always been open to them for valuable information that aid their operations.
He said: “One of the misconceptions about our satellite is people believe that it will snap photos or record videos of crime scenes and send them to security agents, but that is not how it works.
“Although NigComSat -1R is a communications satellite, it is not equipped with cameras. It gathers data and digital footprints which on demand, we usually make available to security agencies that can also read and interpret them effectively. So people should not think that because crimes are happening unabated, the satellite is not working or performing its duties” he added.
Source: Vanguard.
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