{"id":4218,"date":"2026-10-15T07:54:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/?p=4218"},"modified":"2026-10-15T07:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:54:04","slug":"device-checker-not-a-surveillance-tool-ncc-assures-nigerians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/?p=4218","title":{"rendered":"Device Checker Not a Surveillance Tool, NCC Assures Nigerians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians that its enhanced device compliance framework cannot access users’ private data, including messages, photographs, contacts and financial information, as stricter checks on SIM-enabled devices roll out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh, gave the assurance at a news conference in Abuja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the framework relies on device identification information, such as International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, to verify compliance with technical standards and flag devices that may not have received the required regulatory approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ogoh stressed that the system was built for regulatory compliance, not surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Type Approval Compliance framework is not designed for surveillance and does not provide the Commission with access to the content of communications, photographs, messages, contacts, financial information or any other personal information stored on users’ devices,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the NCC, the initiative will help identify non-compliant, cloned and counterfeit devices, improve network performance and boost consumer confidence in equipment sold in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission disclosed that devices already in stock are being onboarded, while newly imported ones will undergo verification and authentication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Section 132(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 requires licensed service providers, facilities providers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers to obtain Type Approval before communications equipment can be sold or used in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC issued its Type Approval Business Rules in August 2024, and later held consultations with manufacturers, importers, dealers, telecom operators, government agencies and industry associations to guide implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buyers urged to verify device approval<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission advised consumers to confirm the approval status of devices before purchase, particularly phones, tablets, modems and point of sale (POS) terminals that use SIM cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ogoh urged buyers to ask sellers whether devices had received NCC Type Approval, warning that non-compliant equipment could degrade network performance and pose avoidable security risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC said it would continue stakeholder engagement and public awareness campaigns as implementation progresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 231 million devices registered<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nairametrics earlier reported that the NCC has registered about 231 million telecommunications devices in Nigeria as implementation of the framework begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission noted that newly introduced devices must meet its verification requirements before accessing telecommunications networks. However, it said it would not retrospectively disconnect devices already connected before the system became operational, including those that may not meet current approval standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC is also working with the Nigeria Customs Service, manufacturers, importers and dealers to authenticate devices before they enter the Nigerian market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system will enable regulators to identify importers, import dates and the quantities of individual devices, supporting enforcement against counterfeit products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians that its enhanced device compliance framework cannot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4220,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions\/4220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicknewsnigeria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}