News
FG to block unregistered devices from Nigeria’s telecoms networks – Technology Times
Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator is set to block SIM-enabled devices that are not registered and authenticated from operating on the country’s mobile networks as part of a new technology-driven crackdown on non-compliant and illegally imported devices.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the measure is being implemented through its Device Management System (DMS), which will electronically determine whether SIM-enabled communications devices comply with the telecoms watchdog’s Type Approval requirements.
The NCC announced the development in a statement signed by Nnenna Ukoha, its Director of Public Affairs, on September 9, 2026, but no time frame was indicated in the announcement made available to Technology Times.
Nigeria’s telecoms market had 195.11 million active mobile subscriptions in July 2026, according to the latest industry statistics from the NCC, underscoring the scale of the network ecosystem affected by the new device-registration regime. The figure represented a rise from 182.23 million active lines in January, while national teledensity reached about 90% in July. The size of the subscriber base means the NCC’s Device Management System (DMS) will operate across a mobile market approaching 200 million active lines, giving the regulator a broad network-level mechanism for identifying and blocking SIM-enabled devices that do not meet its registration and Type Approval requirements.
Nigeria’s telecoms market nears 200 million active lines
Nigeria’s telecoms market had 195.11 million active mobile subscriptions in July 2026, according to the latest industry statistics from the NCC, underscoring the scale of the network ecosystem affected by the new device-registration regime. The figure represented a rise from 182.23 million active lines in January, while national teledensity reached about 90% in July.
The size of the subscriber base means the NCC’s Device Management System (DMS) will operate across a mobile market approaching 200 million active lines, giving the regulator a broad network-level mechanism for identifying and blocking SIM-enabled devices that do not meet its registration and Type Approval requirements.
Under the new framework, NCC said that all SIM-enabled communications devices brought into Nigeria must be registered before they are sold, while devices that are not duly registered will no longer be permitted to operate on Nigerian telecoms networks.
The move represents a significant expansion of the nation’s telecoms regulator’s enforcement of Type Approval rules, shifting compliance monitoring towards an automated system capable of identifying devices through their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers.
The commission said the DMS will provide the technology platform for the automated compliance framework and improve its oversight of the communications device ecosystem.
The regulatory intervention is also being implemented with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), importers and relevant market associations, putting device compliance at both the border-import stage and network-access stage.
Customs to play role in stopping illegal devices
The NCC said it has commenced the first phase of the automated Type Approval compliance framework and is working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders to ensure that devices imported into Nigeria are appropriately registered and authenticated.
The first phase includes onboarding existing devices currently held in stock, while future imports will be subjected to registration and authentication requirements.
This is intended to give the commission a mechanism for identifying non-compliant and illegally imported devices before they enter widespread use on Nigerian networks.
The NCC said it has commenced the first phase of the automated Type Approval compliance framework and is working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders to ensure that devices imported into Nigeria are appropriately registered and authenticated. The first phase includes onboarding existing devices currently held in stock, while future imports will be subjected to registration and authentication requirements.
The Customs collaboration gives the new framework a supply-chain dimension, with regulatory checks extending beyond mobile networks to the point at which communications devices enter the country.
The NCC said the system will make it easier to identify illegally imported and non-compliant devices, while improving enforcement of the Type Approval regime.
The commission’s intervention, according to the statement, is based on Section 132(2) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, which requires licensed service and facilities providers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers to obtain Type Approval from the NCC before communications equipment can be sold or used in Nigeria.
CEIR to underpin device registration
According to Engr. Edoyemi Ogoh, the NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, the framework is built around the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), established under the Type Approval Business Rules issued by the commission in August 2024.
The CEIR will maintain a central registry of the IMEI numbers of SIM-enabled communications devices in Nigeria.
Ogoh said the commission began stakeholder engagements and market studies after the 2024 rules were issued, leading to the design and deployment of the current system.
“With the deployment of this system,” Ogoh added, “all SIM-enabled communications devices brought into the country must be registered before they are sold. Devices that are not duly registered will not be permitted to operate on Nigerian networks.”
The use of IMEI numbers gives the NCC a means of identifying individual devices connecting to mobile networks and determining whether they meet the applicable Type Approval requirements.
The commission said this will strengthen its ability to enforce technical standards while providing greater visibility into devices being imported, sold and used in Nigeria.
Stolen phones also targeted
The DMS will not only be used to enforce Type Approval requirements.
The NCC said the system will also help address wider challenges in Nigeria’s device market, including the use of stolen phones.
Devices reported stolen can be blocked from operating across Nigerian mobile networks, potentially reducing the usefulness of stolen devices and making them easier to identify within the communications ecosystem.
The platform will maintain device identification information, including IMEI numbers, but the NCC said it will not have access to the content stored on users’ devices or the ability to monitor personal communications through the system.
The commission said the framework is also expected to enhance network performance and consumer confidence in devices sold and used in Nigeria.
For consumers, the implication is that compliance with the NCC’s device requirements will become increasingly important when purchasing SIM-enabled devices, particularly smartphones and other connected communications equipment.
A device that has not been properly registered could ultimately be prevented from accessing Nigerian mobile networks, regardless of whether the device can technically connect to those networks.
NCC says DMS will not monitor users’ communications
The regulator sought to distinguish the device-management framework from systems designed to monitor communications.
Ogoh said the DMS is designed solely to support device identification and Type Approval compliance.
The platform will maintain device identification information, including IMEI numbers, but the NCC said it will not have access to the content stored on users’ devices or the ability to monitor personal communications through the system.
The commission described the initiative as part of its mandate to ensure that communications devices imported, sold and used in Nigeria meet applicable technical and regulatory standards.
The automated framework is expected to make enforcement more efficient by allowing the NCC to electronically determine whether devices comply with Type Approval requirements.
What the new rule means for Nigeria’s device market
The framework effectively creates a compliance chain extending from importation to sale and finally network access.
Importers and manufacturers will need to ensure that applicable devices are appropriately registered and authenticated. Customs authorities and other stakeholders will work with the NCC to improve checks on devices entering the country, while mobile networks will provide the final point at which non-compliant devices can be prevented from operating.
The NCC said the first implementation phase is already underway, with existing stock being onboarded into the system.
The commission did not state in its announcement when enforcement would begin to block all unregistered devices already in circulation, nor did it provide details of a specific grace period for consumers or traders holding devices that have not yet been registered.
It also did not disclose the categories of devices that will be affected beyond SIM-enabled communications devices.
However, the regulator’s announcement makes clear that registration and authentication will become a condition for SIM-enabled devices to operate on Nigerian networks as the DMS framework is rolled out.
The development places greater responsibility on importers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensure that devices entering the Nigerian market comply with the NCC’s Type Approval regime.
For the Nigeria Customs Service, the collaboration with the NCC introduces an additional regulatory layer for communications equipment entering the country, while for the telecoms regulator, the DMS provides a direct mechanism to enforce compliance at the point of network access.
The NCC said the overall objective is to strengthen the integrity of Nigeria’s communications device ecosystem while improving compliance, network performance and consumer confidence.
Former presidential aide Laolu Akande has criticised the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar's reported position on power returning to the North, describing the argument as an insult to Nigerians from the region.
Akande, a former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, made the remarks while speaking on Symfoni TV on Friday.
Speaking on the readiness and viability of presidential candidates ahead of the coming election, Akande argued that the country must maintain the principle of rotational presidency to promote a sense of belonging among its various regions.
“Atiku is just basically saying that, okay, the North is angry; we want power back. And that idea, with due respect to our brothers in the North, is an insult. It’s an insult. This country, we must maintain rotational presidency for purposes of building a sense of belonging,” he said.
Speaking on the ADC's choice of presidential candidate, he said, “If they were serious, they should have picked Amaechi, or they should have prevented Obi from leaving, and then Atiku would have been a star.”
‘Atiku’s push for return of power to North is insult’ — Laolu Akande
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has confirmed that the Ebola virus detected in Nigeria is highly similar to the virus identified in Kenya’s first imported case.
Mr Pate disclosed this on Friday during a briefing at the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja, saying genomic sequencing showed that the viruses differed by only one mutation.
He said the analysis was conducted by sequencing teams at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the Institute of Genomics and Global Health at Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, with the team led by virologist Christian Happi.
However, he cautioned that the finding does not establish how the Nigerian first case acquired the infection.
“Based on the genomic analysis, there is no evidence of travel of that index case in Kenya that links it to Nigeria, but the viruses are appearing to be related,” he said.
He added that the finding could change the understanding of the route of transmission as further investigations and testing continue.
Kenya has so far recorded nine confirmed Ebola cases caused by Bundibugyo virus, including one death, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Eight of the cases were linked to the country’s first imported case from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including four healthcare workers.
Africa CDC probes link
The genomic finding came on the same day the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said it is investigating a possible connection between Nigeria’s case and Kenya’s first imported case.
The agency said both patients had travelled through Entebbe International Airport in Uganda on 3 October, prompting investigations into whether they had shared equipment or had other contact. Africa CDC, however, stressed that no connection had been established between the infections.
The Kenyan patient travelled from the DRC through Uganda before arriving in Nairobi. He later died, becoming the first recorded Ebola death in Kenya’s current outbreak.
The Nigerian patient also passed through Uganda, but Ugandan authorities had earlier rejected suggestions that this established the country as the source of her infection.
Uganda denies active case
On 21 October, Uganda’s Ministry of Health said it had no confirmed active Ebola case and that the Nigerian patient’s transit through the country did not establish that she contracted the virus there.
The ministry said preliminary information indicated that the Nigerian woman had travelled to eastern DRC for business and passed through Uganda in early October without showing symptoms. It said the location of her exposure remained under investigation.
The new genomic finding now provides evidence of similarity between the Nigerian and Kenyan infections, although Nigerian authorities have not established that the patient was infected in Kenya.
One confirmed case
Mr Pate said Nigeria still has only one confirmed Ebola case and that authorities were continuing contact tracing, quarantine and additional testing of contacts.
Some tests have returned negative results, while others are pending, he said.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant but calm, saying there is no need for panic.
“We will continue to work diligently to ensure that we contain this virus as much as possible, and that we avoid a situation that spills over to the communities,” he said.
READ ALSO: Ebola: Atiku demands details of FG’s N10bn emergency fund
The minister said the government is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in health facilities and would train health workers on how to identify and manage suspected cases.
He urged hospitals to notify public health authorities of suspected cases and encouraged Nigerians to observe basic preventive measures, including regular handwashing and hygiene.
Mr Pate also said Ebola is not currently known to be transmitted through the air but through close contact with infected body fluids.
He urged Nigerians to rely on information from public health authorities, including the NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation and Africa CDC, rather than unverified information on social media.
Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
News18 hours agoObi, Kwankwaso to hold Middle Belt Youth, Village Hall Meeting in Jos
-
News4 days ago
Mamdani says feds have abdicated on AI, urges New Yorkers to push back
-
News3 days ago
Meta’s Muse hits 10M U.S. downloads in 40 days, a milestone reached by only 11 other apps
-
Business3 days ago
How Your Side Hustle Income Ends Up in Your RSA
