Some victims who have miraculously escaped and regained their freedom for bandits and gunmen have said the Federal Government’s directive on the NIN-SIM linkage has no effect on their captors, hence, making a mess of the FG’s directive.
Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission is currently having Nigerian undergo the NIN-SIM linkage registration which it directed in 2020 to ‘strengthen security in the nation, help to trace bandits and fight insurgency and insecurity.
Meanwhile the battle had begun in 2011 where under sections 19 and 20 of the Nigerian Communications Commission (Registration of Telephone Subscribers) Regulations, 2011, telecommunications firms are expected to register all subscribers. In 2015, the NCC then directed all telecommunications firms to deactivate unregistered or partly registered SIMs. The regulation, according to NCC, is aimed at ensuring that all subscribers are traceable for security reasons.
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Speaking with The PUNCH, residents of Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna states, who recounted their experiences in kidnappers’ dens, however, told the media that a huge mess of the Federal Government’s directives are made as they are not effective in tracing bandits. According to them, they made the bandits’ telephone numbers available to security agents but the latter did not do anything to trace them.
Punch reported that in Zamfara State, a kidnap victim, Mallam Yushau Jangeme, said some bandits had, a few months ago, kidnapped seven people in his village and he was contacted to bring ransom before they could be freed. According to him, when he got to the forest to give kidnappers N1.4m out of N3m they demanded, they detained him alongside the earlier abducted 7, saying he must bring the remaining N1.6m. The victim stressed that the security agents didn’t render any assistance in tracing the telephone calls of the bandits despite the fact that they were aware of the situation.
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“The security agents posted to my village (Jangeme) knew what was happening, but they didn’t make any attempt to use the telephone number sent by the bandits who kidnapped us”, he reportedly said.
Another victim, Aminu Sarki reportedly told The PUNCH that he spent 23 days in bandits’ den and did not get any assistance from the security agents who were aware of his abduction.
Yet, another victim in the State, Alhaji Sani Gyare, whose seven children were kidnapped some months ago, reportedly said the Police didn’t get to the scene when alerted about the bandits’ presence until after 3 hours and even when they got their contacts, they did nothing. “My seven children were kidnapped by bandits without resistance from the security agents who were alerted on what was happening in Kadauri village. When the bandits entered our village, we quickly informed the police but they didn’t report to the scene until after three hours when the bandits had left”, he reportedly said.
Read also:Â NIN-SIM Linkage Has Reduced Kidnapping To The Barest Minimum – Pantami
Sani Gyare reportedly added that when the bandits called him and demanded N50m, he gave their phone number to the security agents, but nothing was done. “The bandits called me and asked me to pay N50m so that they could release my children and I told them that I didn’t have such a huge amount. I gave their phone number to the police so that they could trace the abductors but unfortunately, nothing happened”, The PUNCH reported he said.
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