The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has debunked the report that Nigerians will be required to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity, IMEI, of their phones to it from July, 2021.
“At no time did the commission issue a statement regarding the registration of IMEI by subscribers and it has no plans to do so,” NCC said in a statement on Friday.
It said the reports in question emanated from a section of the Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration recently launched by President Muhammadu Buhari and which had been uploaded on the commission’s website.
It said it was necessary to state that the commission was in the process of deploying a Device Management System, DMS.
The DMS, it explained, would essentially protect subscribers against phone theft and would identify and enable the elimination of fake devices from the networks.
The system, it added, would capture IMEI automatically without any requirement for subscribers to submit same.
“The general public is advised to disregard the said publications, which have created the erroneous impression that telephone subscribers will be required to register their IMEI with their networks,” NCC stated.
