NCC Says Nigerians Will Have To Submit Their Phone IMEI Numbers From July

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a move by the Nigerian Communications Commission, which has said that Nigerians will have to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of their phones from July.

The IMEI number is a 15-digit number that is peculiar to every phone as no two phones can have the same IMEI number. 

With the IMEI number, a phone can be tracked and located irrespective of the cellular number in it.

A portion of the policy said, “Accordingly, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has directed that the Device Management System should be implemented within three months.”

This was made known in the commission’s Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration as it noted that the aim is to curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, discourage mobile phone theft, enhance National Security, protect consumer interest, increase revenue generation for the government, reduce the rate of kidnapping, mitigate the use of stolen phones for crime, as well as facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones and other smart devices, among others.

“The implementation of a Centralised Equipment Identity Register otherwise known as Device Management System will serve as a repository for keeping records of all registered mobile phones’ International Mobile Equipment Identity and owners of such devices.

“IMEIs that have been reported as either stolen or illegal will be shared through the DMS to all the operators and service providers.” the NCC said.

The IMEI of a phone allows us to track the phone.

IMEIs will enable experts to track a phone’s information, people the phone calls each day and the house address of the people that call on the phone and even when others try to change the IMEI of stolen phones, its original identity can still be traced one.”

With this new development, the NCC will have the IMEI numbers, NIN, and mobile numbers of every Nigerian.