Why govt is unable to track kidnappers through phone calls —Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, on Thursday, explained the reason criminals using phone calls and text messages in the execution of their sleazy activities have not been tracked by the Nigerian government.

Pantami, who spoke to journalists in Abuja during the scorecard presentation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, said tracking criminals using phone calls and others was the responsibility of the National Security Adviser.

Nigerians had vehemently challenged the significance of the compulsory National Identification Number (NIN) in the course of sim registration in the country.

Reacting, Pantami said the introduction of NIN was basically to minimize cybercrimes.

The Minister said his ministry would intervene in the process of tracking criminals if officially requested.

READ ALSO:Police uncovers suspected kidnappers’ armoury, recovers AK-47 rifles, others in Bauchi

He said: “This process falls under cybercrime. Cybercrime is under the office of the national security advisor and other security institutions.

“Our role in cyber security is to ensure we minimize the possibility of a criminal deploying technology to commit a crime. So our work is proactive. At the same time, if the crime is committed and our intervention is required officially then we are going to intervene.

“So, here when it comes to minimizing the probability of criminals committing a crime, we need to reintroduce the national NIN and civil registrations. Two, we enforce the NIN registration. NIN registration is by our law in Nigeria, NIN is mandatory for all citizens.”

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