The announcement by the Nigerian Communications Commission for citizens to submit the International Mobile Equipment Identity of their phones by July is eliciting different reactions on social media.
Following the statement by NCC on the matter, Nigerians on Friday, using their different media platforms, knocked President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, for the new move.
Below are what they are saying on Twitter:
@ronaldnzimora: “NIN + IMEI registration is a way for the Govt to track down and kill you when you disagree with them.
“Stop registering for it. Even if you did NIN, don’t ever do IMEI registration.”
@ayemojubar: “Truth you need to know about your IMEI. This is enough proof why you shouldn’t submit your IMEC to NCC and Isa Pantami even if heaven will fall. NIN,IMEI: This govt has a hidden agenda towards 2022 / 2023.”
@drpenking: “The moment you submit your IMEI to Buhari government, get ready to be shot to death inside your room the moment you tweet anything against the government.”
@iamseunalaofin: “We did NIN, we did BVN now they want us to drop our phone’s IMEI number.
“Very soon they would tell us to put Buhari portrait in our homes for one reason we don’t know yet.
“At this stage anyone that believes in this government needs Bigi Apple to get their senses back!!”
@rusticfunmi: “The tyrannical federal government of Nigeria has now demanded for our IMEI numbers in order to identify and track us via our phones.
“This demand by the NCC is a violation of our privacy and is ILLEGAL.. our ‘supposed’ consitution stands against such intrusion on our privacy.”
@smart_Michael: “Apart from this your device will become vulnerable i.e they can use tools such as ifphonga to trace your device OS version IPaddress get feedbacks on your call status and if their Pentesters are experts they will gain access to your entire device by forcing a malware into it”
@Daddy_Nomso: “Last Year they Forced Nigerians to Register for NIN during the 2nd Wave of Covid now its that we should Submit IMEI of our Phones to the Government that Flirts with Boko Haram & sends Allowances to Bandits.
“The Grand Plan is becoming Clearer everyday”
@MissToshPR: “No be only IMEI, make them add house address too, relationship status and height”
@MaziNmandlKanu “The demand by the @NgComCommission is a violation of your privacy and is ILLEGAL. Your ‘supposed’ constitution stands against such intrusion on your privacy.
“Resist it by all means bcos you are selling yourself out to the enemies of freedom.
“First was NIN and now it’s IMEI. Think”
@TunnyKvng: “I haven’t linked my NIN and I’m definitely not going to submit my IMEI to NCC and Isa Pantami. Patapata, I will relocate to Togo.”
@TheBriden: “I will trek through the evil wilderness of Niger Republic, the dry scorching and dangerous deserts of Libya and serve as a slave for 2 years in Libya before crossing over to Europe to do prostitution than to give Isa Pandemic my IMEI number”
@ayemojubar: “I don’t have issues releasing my sensitive data like IMEI / UDID to govt agencies, but this Isa Pantami / Buhari govt, they’ve lost my trust completely.
“They always meant evil for us.”
@_AsiwajuLerry: “It seems Nigerian Government’s aim is to strip its citizen off their entire privacy. From linking NIN with SIM cards and now we have to submit our phone’s IMEI?? I’ve made one mistake linking my NIN, I won’t repeat such thing again.”
@UNCLE_AJALA: “Isa Pantami have access to our NIN, now NCC is mandating Nigerians to submit IMEI of phones from July 2021.
“I hope FG won’t be mad if people don’t comply with this IMEI directives, because when people asked for the resignation of Isa Pantami for his extremism, FG didn’t comply.”
@firstladyship: “NCC said Nigerians must submit their phone IMEI from July, & it’s mandatory. Obadiah Mailafia already told us, “they will move to Phase 2 by 2022.” With your phone IMEI, they will track your whereabouts. And Isa Pantami have access to your NIN-SIM Registration information.”
@edwardbode: “This NIN I submitted was a mistake, I will never submit my IMEI to the government. We all deserve some privacy ffs!!!!!
“We already know where you people are going. Last year you acquired a tool to spy on citizens, few months later you ask citizens to submit IMEI. BOKO HARAM GOVT”