The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has explained why kidnappers still demand ransom through phone calls despite the fact that Nigerians have been made to link their National Identity Number (NIN) with their mobile phone SIM cards.
Pantami, while speaking during the World National Identity Day celebration, said that kidnappers and terrorists still negotiate for ransom using phone calls, because innovation to wipe out evil does not happen overnight as it takes a gradual process.
The Minister however emphasised that significant gains had been recorded since the linking of SIM cards with the NIN started.
According to him, since the exercise commenced, there had been a notable drop in the number of calls by fraudsters to unsuspecting phone users.
Vanguard quoted Pantami as saying that “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.