ALTON Seeks Collaboration with Police to Address Sector Challenges

Association Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) is seeking collaboration with the Nigerian Police Force to address challenges faced by telecommunications operators in the country.

Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON at a recent visit by ALTON Executive Council to Solomon Arase, Inspector General of Police (IGP) urged the police high command to assist telecommunications service providers to address issues such as closure of Base Stations without court orders.

“The incidence of closure of our members’ BTS sites and other telecommunications infrastructure on the excuse of non-payment of arbitrarily imposed taxes and levies imposed by States and Local Government Authorities in the name of Internally generated revenue (IGR) is having adverse effect on our quality of service. We hereby request that you kindly direct all Police commands to kindly and strictly enforce taxation demands pursuant to court orders only. In the case of telecommunications companies, such order should only be orders of the federal high court since telecommunications is on the exclusive legislative list”.

He added that telecommunications industry supports many other economic sectors of the economy. We are also in the first layer of critical infrastructure for socio economic development and security.

“Unless we have first level of protection by government and the security agencies, it will be difficult to continue to provide uninterrupted services with the type of venerability of our members and their infrastructure.”

Responding, IGP Arase said he is passionate in bringing the Nigerian Police Force out of analogue to digital platform. 

He added that character certificate process has been made easy and that every citizen of good behavior should endeavour to process

it online and submit to the appropriate quarter for processing, which it will be out within 24 hours.  He said anywhere you go once you have it on your phones and show the certificate whenever you are stop for checking, you will be passed.

The IGP stated that he has a robust relationship with the telecoms operators and the Association when he was the DIG in charge of Intelligence and as regards government agencies, States and Local Governments using the Police to shutdown telecom infrastructures across the country, he immediately mandated Tinja Mazam, his Chief Protocol Officer DSP to send signals to all the State Police Commissioners that on no account should any Policeman be deployed or involved in the process of shutting down of telecoms infrastructures without genuine court order and clearance from the office of the Inspector General of Police.

 He said they will continue to educate their people on how important telecoms infrastructures are to the security of the country.

Arase said that the Police authority is ready to collaborate with ALTON, which he is working already on and wanted the Police and ALTON to come together every quarterly to assess progress made, pledging that the Police will continue to support the industry as well.  

He said any operator that have issues of unlawful interference or shutting down of BTS Sites without clearance from the force headquarters should call directly to the IGP rapid response hot-lines 0805 700 0001/2 and within 30 minutes the situation will be brought under control.