Nigerians have taken to social media to outrightly reject the moves by the federal government to collect their IMEI numbers through the NCC.
In what appears to be a unanimous non-acceptance, Nigerians express fears that the request and submission of IMEI to the government will amount to privacy invasion.
Many clearly stated that they do not trust the government to protect their data especially with a Minister of Communication, Isa Pantami who has been accused of being an advocate of terrorist groups including Boko Haram and Al Qaeda.
Others pointed out that the government already has in its possession Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN).
The government tried to reassure Nigerians that the purpose of the IMEI number submission is to “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, and facilitate blocking or tracing of stolen mobile phones and other smart devices. one of the means to achieve this is through the deployment of Device Management System (DMS).”
Despite this, a large chunk of Nigerians says that they won’t submit their IMEI number. whose collation is expected to begin from July. They dared the government to do its worst.
