The Federal Executive Council has endorsed the deployment of hybrid spectrum monitoring system to monitor illegal frequencies in the country.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, told State House reporters after the 18th virtual FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari that the deployment was to prevent any activities that could compromise the country’s security.
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Pantami, who said frequencies in five geo-political zones in the country are currently being monitored, stressed that the latest deployment was to cover the southeast geo-political zone which was hitherto excluded.
The minister, who said investigation had showed that the use of illegal frequencies in the country had become very rampant, stated that the council had approved the sum of N653,886,584 to procure and deploy hybrid spectrum monitoring system to cover the southern part of the country, most importantly the south east.
According to him, “from January to August 2020, within the period of eight months, we discovered 320 frequencies being used all over the country and of these, 320, 106 were illegal.
“This is very worrisome because the usage of this illegal spectrum or frequencies will compromise our security and safety in the country.”
The minister said the illegal frequencies would be prosecuted based on the advice of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
