Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Arnaud Nicolas MAWEL
Published on 2024-04-09 10:12:08
The Minister of Territorial Administration made this demand to the mobile operators Orange and MTN during a meeting on April 8, 2024.
The government, through the Minister of Territorial Administration, is requesting mobile phone operators to communicate the number of SIM cards in circulation in crisis regions. Paul Atanga Nji also demands the identification of mobile phone product sellers in the North-West, South-West, and Far North regions.
This requirement follows the observation that the SIM cards found with “terrorists” have no identification or contain false identification. According to the Minister, “the terrorists have committed too many crimes and atrocities in the North-West and South-West regions. Today, every time a group of terrorists is neutralized or identified, it is noticed that they have at least 27 phones, making investigations very difficult because after each crime, the terrorists remove the SIM cards and replace them with others”, making security operations in the field difficult.
To solve this problem, the minister informs the operators that the security of the state is more important than their revenues. Also, “You must, within 60 days, provide the Ministry with a list of all those responsible for selling your products in the North-West, South-West, and Far North regions. You must also take measures to control the circulation of the SIM cards and chips that you send to these three regions,” demands Minister Paul Atanga Nji.
This measure, which primarily concerns areas in security crisis, should be extended nationwide. Everywhere, in urban and rural areas, citizens complain of scams or frauds via phone lines. The perpetrators do not fear being exposed through their phone numbers, indicating that the situation goes beyond crisis areas. Thus, a readjustment is necessary in the measures taken to strengthen the security of individuals and properties through the identification of SIM cards.
Read the original article(French) on Journal du Cameroun
