Nigeria’s communications minister, Bosun Tijani, stated on Friday that bandits and terrorist teams are in a position to coordinate their actions by exploiting gaps within the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, notably in poorly related rural areas.
Talking on Channels Tv’s Politics At the moment, Tijani stated legal teams use superior strategies to route calls throughout a number of telecom towers, permitting them to speak undetected in areas with weak community protection.
“They weren’t utilizing the traditional towers; they bounced calls off a number of towers, which is why they favour areas which might be largely unconnected,” he stated.
Requested about issues that unregistered or fraudulently registered SIM playing cards stay in circulation regardless of insurance policies linking cellphone numbers to nationwide identification and financial institution verification methods, Tijani stated such claims weren’t totally verified and concerned technical complexities.
“Whether or not it’s reality or not, I have no idea the place you’re getting that from, and I have no idea who has proof that there are folks with unregistered SIMs,” he stated.
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The minister stated the federal authorities is investing in new telecom towers in underserved areas, upgrading Nigeria’s communication satellites and increasing fibre-optic infrastructure to enhance protection and shut loopholes exploited by legal networks.
“If our towers aren’t working, our satellites will work,” Tijani stated, including that Nigeria is the one nation in West Africa with communication satellites and is planning additional upgrades to boost their capabilities.
The feedback come amid rising concern over insecurity in components of northern Nigeria, the place banditry, kidnapping and insurgency have intensified. Authorities have additionally raised alarm over stories of legal teams flaunting ransom funds on social media platforms akin to TikTok.
Safety businesses say many assaults are coordinated throughout huge rural areas with restricted connectivity, complicating efforts to observe communications and observe suspects.
