Beyond providing essential emergency response services to the Nigerian public, the Emergency Communications Centres (ECC), being implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) now provide employment placements for many Nigerian youth and professionals, as well as offering informal business activities to the citizens across the Country.

The ECC’s, which have been constructed and are now fully operational in a total of 27 State Capitals across the country, are reachable on Toll-Free Number 112, and are operating in similar design like the 911 Emergency Numbers in some developed parts of the world, to provide succor to individuals, who are witnesses or under distress of emergency, arising from fire outbreaks, robbery or violent attacks, domestic and road accidents, health crisis, to instantly reach response agencies through the toll-free three (3) digit numbers, 112.

Four more centres are currently undergoing test-runs to commence services in September 2023, to bring the total to 31, while another set of four are expected to come into operations before the end of the year.

The Commission provided technology platforms such as Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems for the respective response agencies such as police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ambulance Service, and State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) to facilitate the dispatch of emergency calls through the national emergency toll-free number 112.

The three-digit code was designed to ensure that citizens in emergency situations can easily recall the three-digit code, 112, to report emergency situations.

Agents of the ECCs, have been trained, and equipped with state-of-the-art communications equipment, including digital radio and Internet-protocol (IP) and geo-location technologies to enable responders to easily identify location of incidents for effective and efficient delivery of rescue services to the public.

Emergency Centre services in Nigeria are available, live, 24 hours of the day as the agents run in shifts to ensure that services are delivered at all times of the day.

The response agencies, such as the Police with round-the-clock duties to prevent, stop and arrest crimes, are now being provided with additional mobile communications devices, some installed in their offices, to enable them to instantly receive information from call agents at the centres.

This is to also ensure that top echelon of the force are provided instant information for command and control over emergency situations or incidents across the country.

As the ECCs assume more crucial roles in providing emergency communications services to the citizenry, it is also providing additional socio-economic responsibility of providing job opportunities to the citizens as each of the centres have staffs made up of Call agents, Facility/IT Staff, and Administrators.

The basic salaries of the staff of ECCs, have been carefully set by the Commission, to ensure that the jobs at the centres are attractive for the Nigerian youths, and other category of employees.

In effect, more than 1,200 are currently offered employment at the 27 operational centres across the country, while more will be employed as the additional 8 centres under different stages of completion become fully operational by 2024.

The Centres are also managed by indigenous Nigerian consultants who are engaged to provide total facility and operational management of the centres.

The post ECC: Fulfilling Needful Job Opportunities for Nigerian Youths appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has teamed up with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to tackle some of the criminal activities bedevilling the telecom industry, such as fraudulent registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, telecom equipment vandalism and among others.

Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, who addressed a gathering of senior management staff of NSCDC in the South West Zone, at an exclusive workshop organised by the Commission, hailed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) sealed between the agency and the Commission, which prompted the gathering to explore how the Corps will deploy enabling laws, subsidiary legislations, and extant guidelines to arrest any form of criminality in the sector.

Danbatta, who was represented at the workshop by the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement at the Commission, Ephraim Nwokonneya, said: “Over the years, the NCC has been working with relevant law enforcement agencies, and in particular the NSCDC, towards protecting telecom sector from all kinds of criminal behaviour.

“Through despicable activities that are criminal and totally at variance with national security concerns of government, the deviant elements in our midst have been acting to undermine efforts put in place to consolidate the gains of the sector,” the EVC added.

Danbatta declared that “these criminal activities include theft and vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure, the illegal use of fraudulently-registered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards, operating without license, illegal call masking, and so on.”

He said while the NSCDC officers have been of tremendous assistance, the objective of the workshop was to constantly engage and update them on new trends and existing regulations, requiring concerted efforts for their implementation towards enhancing sanity in the telecom sector.

Danbatta said the NSCDC and other agencies have done very well with the assistance of their personnel in carrying out raid exercises and mopping up fraudulently-registered SIM cards found in circulation, as well as in raising the banner of awareness on the need to protect critical national telecom infrastructure.

Some of the topical issues discussed at the workshop covered the activities of the Commission as presented by the relevant departments in the context of laws and other regulations, and in relation to the roles of NSCDC, as depicted in the presentation made by the NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Salisu Abdu, during the workshop.

The post NCC Partners Civil Defence Corps To Tackle Fraudulent SIM Registration appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – Some gallant officers of the Nigerian military, the Police and civil defence were among the award recipients at the 3rd edition of the Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA 2021).

The officers received different categories of the awards for demonstrating gallantry and doggedness in the fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, among others.

Lieutenant Colonel Ponfa Andrew Wuyep of the Nigerian Army bagged the “Military Officer of the Year” award for leading his troop on successful counter-insurgency operations in Maiduguri and its environs.

Inspector Abimaje Isaiah of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) won the “Security Officer of the Year” for single-handedly apprehending scores of kidnappers along Abuja -Kaduna Highway.

Flight lieutenant Abayomi Dairo bagged gallantry award for shelling bandits’ camps in the North-west before his aircraft came under heavy fire by bandits. He successfully ejected from the aircraft and navigate to safety.

Saminu Audu, a Commander of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) Maiduguri, received the “Volunteer Group” Award for collaborating with the Nigerian troops in the arrests of informants and elimination of scores of ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorists.

Other awardees at the event included ASP Mariam Yusuf of the Nigeria Police who won the “Crisis Communicator” award; Mrs. Abimbola Animashawun of the the Nigerian Customs Services, NCS as “Law Enforcement Officer of the Year” and Sifon Essien of TVC as the Humanitarian Journalist of the Year.

In addition, NDLEA bagged an award on Public Information; Kano State Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service on Crime Prevention; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Diligent Investigation; Nigerian Navy on Community Service; Defence Headquarters on Civil Military Relations, and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Emergency Management.

Others are National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) for Training Institute, Lagos Command of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for Cybercrime Prevention and
National Commission for Refugees for Humanitarian Services.

The Director Defence Information, Major General Benjamin Sawyerr bagged Media Friendly Personality of the Year.

In his remarks, Mallam Yushau Shuaib, the Chief Executive Officer of Image Merchants said SAEMA event, an initiative of Emergency Digest was instituted in 2019 to recognize and appreciate the invaluable contribution to the security, peace and development of Nigeria by the personnel in the Nigerian military, security, intelligence and response agencies.

By PRNigeria

The post Gallant Officers Bag SAEMA Award for Tackling Kidnappers and Terrorists in 2021 appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST- The Federal Government has advised security agencies in the country to adopt the recently approved Fifth Generation (5G) network and exploit its potential to effectively tackle security challenges.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami made the call in a presentation at the security summit organized by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abuja with the theme, `Synergy: Panacea to the Effective Critical Assets and Infrastructure Protection’.

Prof. Pantami in his presentation titled; `Securing Critical National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure: Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward’, disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has implemented a number of strategies and policies through its Agencies and Parastatals to ensure the protection of Critical National Assets.

He said: “As part of our efforts to ensure the protection of Critical National Assets, we are working with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to come up with an Executive Order to ensure that our Critical National Assets, particularly in the ICT sector are well protected.

“In order to promote Research and Development in this regard, we have established a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the first of its kind in Africa, where young Nigerians are mentored, innovative and disruptive ideas are identified and supported towards the development of technologies which we will deploy as part of protecting our CNI.

Prof. Pantami said the Federal Government had set up a Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) in NITDA, an ngCERRT in the Office of the National Security Adviser while another one domiciled in the Nigerian Communications Commission which will be commissioned during the week.

He prescribed a multi-sectoral approach to ensure the protection of Critical National Infrastructure by deploying modern technological gadgets, as well as emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality and others that will enhance security through remote surveillance.

The Minister also advocated for the sensitisation and re-orientation of citizens to understand their role in protecting national assets and also urged the Summit to explore   Research and Development as a viable tool for improving security in the country.

The post FG Charges Security Forces to Adopt 5G to Boost Security appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The current effort to rid Nigeria’s telecommunications database of contamination is yielding results.

As part of its routine enforcement activities to sanitise the industry of criminal elements, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) arrested no fewer than five suspected individuals for allegedly engaging in fraudulently registering and selling Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.

The hitch-free operation, as confirmed by the Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, was carried out by a joint team from the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department of the Commission, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 in the Wuse area of Abuja.

The arrested suspects were subsequently handed over to the NSCDC Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Wuse, Abuja for further investigation with respect to the allegations leveled against them.

Commenting on the enforcement operation, NCC’s Head of Enforcement, Salisu Abdu, who led the joint enforcement exercise, said the exercise was part of the routine activities embarked upon by the Commission to rid the industry of criminal elements engaging in fraudulent registration of SIM cards.

He said pre-registering a SIM card is an offence punishable under relevant regulations in the telecom sector and constitutes a breach of national security.

“It is criminal and fraudulent to pre-register a SIM card in Nigeria and it is an offence punishable under the law. Though the Federal Government recently lifted the ban on sale of new SIM cards, it should be noted that proper registration of SIM cards and linking them to National Identification Number (NIN) before activation has now become a prerequisite,” he said.

Abdu warned those who are engaged in the unlawful registration of SIM cards to desist from the illegal act, noting that the Commission will continue to collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies in its routine enforcement activities in order to rid the industry of individuals, who have resolved to contravene SIM registration regulations.

The enforcement activities will continue in other locations across the FCT and other states of the country.

The post NCC Arrests Five Suspects Over Fraudulently-Registered SIM Cards appeared first on Tech Digest News.