REASON WHY KIDNAPPERS CONTINUE TO DEMAND RANSOM THROUGH PHONE CALLS DESPITE NIN AND SIM CARD LINK - PANTAMI

Professor Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, explained that while kidnappers and terrorists continue to negotiate for ransom via phone calls, significant gains have been recorded since the linking of sim cards with the National Indentation Number, NIN, began.

The Minister, speaking at the World National Identify Day celebration in Umuahia, Abia State, said that since the exercise began, there has been a significant drop in the number of calls made by fraudsters to unsuspecting phone users.

The Minister, speaking at the World National Identify Day celebration in Umuahia, Abia State, said that since the exercise began, there has been a significant drop in the number of calls made by fraudsters to unsuspecting phone users.

He argued that people should not expect innovation to eliminate evil overnight, but rather that it is a gradual process.

In his own words: words: "The issue of Kidnappers' calls has actually reduced with respect to ransom by phones. The sanitation of the existing system cannot be done overnight. It's an ongoing process.

"Those 419 calls we normally get most of the time have actually reduced because most of the numbers now are attached to the NIN.

"It needs a little bit more time before the entire system will be completely sanitised. But a tremendous impact has been made so far.

"At least for the first time, most people are scared of doing certain things with their phone numbers - making malicious calls."