The federal government has announced that all Nigerians will have to submit their phone International Mobile Equipment Identity(IMEI) number henceforth from July.
The Nigerian Communications Commission who disclosed the development said it’s inline with the revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
According to NCC, The policy has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Policy statement reads; “Accordingly, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has directed that the Device Management System should be implemented within three months.”
The NCC noted that, “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 facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones and 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.
The NCC will now have the IMEI numbers, NIN, and mobile numbers of every Nigerians with this new development
