Registered SIM Flood Abuja Market Despite FG’s Ban On Sale

Vendors have continued with the illegal act of selling pre-registered Subscriber Identity Module to customers who need them, despite the ban placed on the sale of new SIMs by the Ministry of Communication.

Ideally, mobile phone subscribers are expected to register their SIM cards with their respective mobile network operators with their exact data captured.

In order to curb several illicit activities conducted using SIMs, Isa Pantami, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology had earlier in 2020 directed the NCC to deactivate all illegally registered SIM. This led to the deactivation of 9.2 million pre-registered SIM cards across Nigeria.

The Ministry through the Nigerian Communications Commission had on December 9, 2020 ordered the suspension of sale and activation of SIM cards across the country as it seeks to audit subscriber registration database to achieve global standards and quality.

The Commission also threatened sanctions where operators fail to comply. Part of the sanction could be withdrawal of operating license.

Although the NCC by the end of December, 2020 soften the ban for replacement of lost, stolen or damaged SIM card, the ban on sales and activation of new SIM cards was still in place pending the completion of National Identity Number registration which had been extended to April.

When THE WHISTLER visited some vendors at Kado Bimco market in second avenue Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, most vendors were discovered to have a lot of pre-registered SIMs for sale.

A vendor (name withheld) who spoke to THE WHISTLER said he has SIMs available for sale, but the price had surged from between N200 to N300 to about N1,500.

“I sell SIM. It has been registered,” he told our reporter who disguised he urgently needed a SIM.

“SIM is now very expensive since ban on sale of new SIMs was put in place. I sell GLO for N1500 in case you are interested,” he added.

For 9Mobile and MTN, the vendor agreed to sell for N1,500 and N1,200 respectively, but Airtel SIM was not available for sale as of the time of the bargain.

He said, “All you just need to do is to link the new SIM with your National Identification Number. We can help you do it too.”

Just few meters away from the vendor, another proprietor (name withheld) reluctantly admitted that he had SIMs.

The vendor took seconds to reply when asked if he had registered SIMs for sale as the reporter claimed it was a matter of urgency.

He said, “Yes I have registered SIMs for sell if you are ready to buy.”

“The price for MTN SIM is now N1,500. Airtel is not in the market. We can only do welcome back for old Airtel SIMs.”

According to him, the least price he would sell any of the SIM cards was N1,000.

Repeated calls made by our reporter to reach out to Uwa Suleiman, SpokePerson to the Minister of Communication was not answered. The website also sent a text but there was no response as at the time of filing the report.