The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kwara Command, is collaborating with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to stop sellers and buyers of registered SIM cards in the state.
The NSCDC Commandant in the state, Mr Adeyinka Fasiu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ilorin that the command signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCC to stop the use of registered SIM cards.
“Their enforcement team in Abuja came to me and requested for us to work together to reduce usage of registered SIM cards and sales by hawkers.
“We had an agreement and since then, we have been working together to put a stop to the act,” he said.
He said the command was working with the NCC to preserve the security of the country by ensuring that mischievous elements in the society were not allowed to perpetrate their nefarious activities.
Fasiu said five suspects were arrested by NSCDC’s surveillance team during a routine patrol within Ilorin metropolis.
He said the suspects were: Joe Obudu, 30, Rafiu Anafi, 40, Abdullahi Habeeb, 22, Ibrahim Abodurin, 23 and Ojo Taiye, 19, all arrested for allegedly selling registered SIM cards.
He said two of the suspects, Habeeb Abdullahi and Ibrahim Abodurin confessed to the crime, narrating that they were new in the business.
“The suspects led our officers to their alleged leader, Joe Obudu, whom, they claimed, supplied them the SIM cards,” said Fasiu.
According to the commander, Ibudu has been in the business for a long time and has several other people that are working for him.
“The other suspect, Ojo Taiye was also arrested while selling registered SIM card to a man in a parked vehicle, belonging to Anafi the fifth suspect,” he said.
The Commandant said the registered card trade had been going on for a long time and many people had been using the cards to carry out evil activities in the state.
He, therefore, advised people to desist from buying both unregistered and registered SIM cards from hawkers.
He advised them to always visit accredited shops to purchase SIM cards, where their biometrics would be captured.
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