By Angeline Mgbele, Correspondent Abuja
Telecommunications sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission has distanced itself from reports in both conventional and social media claiming the Commission will require Nigerians to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of their phones to it from July, 2021, saying at no time did the Commission issue a statement regarding the registration of IMEI by subscribers and it has no plans to do so, information from the desk of the Director of Public Affairs(DPA) of NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde says.
Dr. Adinde clarified that the reports in question had emanated from a section of the Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration recently launched by President Muhammadu Buhari and which had been uploaded on the Commission’s website.
The statement goes in part: “It is pertinent to state that the Commission is in the process of deploying a Device Management System (DMS). The DMS will essentially protect subscribers against phone theft and will identify and enable the elimination of fake devices from the networks. The system will capture IMEI automatically without any requirement for subscribers to submit same.
The general public is advised to disregard the said publications, which have created the erroneous impression that telephone subscribers will be required to register their IMEI with their networks.”
