How To Tackle Kidnapping Using Sim Tracking – Sunday Dare

A ministerial nominee, Sunday Dare has stated the possibility of tracking kidnappers using the sim tracking device of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.

He however stressed that it must be a collaborative effort of the NCC and Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, the Department of State Services, DSS, Nigeria Police Force, NPF and other security agencies, because the commission does not have prosecutorial powers

Dare is an Executive Commissioner in the NCC.

Dare stated this today during the ministerial screening while answering a question put before him by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan.

Lawan had asked “How can we get to the kidnappers, arrest them while they’re using mobile phones and then appropriate actions taken?”

The nominee said “the issue of kidnapping worries us, not just as regulators but also as citizens of this country and we have watched across the country how we have seen a spark in the level of kidnapping. To arrest kidnapping, it is a collaborative effort, because NCC as a regulator we are not making any excuses, does not have prosecutorial powers, but we do have what we call the sim registration database. A database inclusive of 178 million subscribers in this country. It is expected to have every sim card registered with the necessary information data, biometrics as the case may be.  

“The process works in such a way that operators collect this information, they pass them unto the regulator and we begin a process of verification because very often we have found that biometrics are not done properly. The information certain fields are missing and in most cases we found out that pictures used are not clear. So we have been able to work on that process.

“In the last three years we have worked with NIMC. They have the equipment and software to scrub this data and get them back to the NCC. This is still ongoing. We have done over 50 million and the process is a bit tedious because it’s dealing with technology but it’s been speeded up,” he disclosed.

He further said: “We have captured at least 85 percent of every sim card in this country in terms of registration. In terms of connection, every sim card you use is connected to the network. So yes, it is possible to trace the kidnappers but until kidnapping occurs, until that phone call is made, there is no real time surveillance. There is no software to be able to monitor 172 million lines round the clock.”

Dare noted that, through collaborative efforts with the office of National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services and the police, the NCC has had telephone numbers brought to its attention immediately.

“Through collaborative efforts with the office of the ONSA, the DSS and the police, we have had telephone numbers brought to our attention immediately. NCC had gone ahead on several occasions to query the database we have and the database the MNOs have like MTN, GLO and we’ve been able to extract the needed information, pass the information in real time to the DSS and the security agencies and we have had several apprehensions. People have been arrested,” he noted.

After responding to about twenty questions from senators, Dare was asked to take a bow and leave