Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has initiated fresh moves to stop Kogi state from further tampering with telecoms infrastructure, in line with the Critical National Infrastructure and Information (CNII) Order.
It was gathered that ONSA was worried about the implications of the recent action of Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA) in sealing six telecoms hubs that are connected to several telecoms sites in the state and its environs, an action that negates the recently signed official Gazette on CNII by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
ONSA, it was gathered, has initiated a meeting and has informed all relevant stakeholders about it.
President Tinubu, had in August this year, signed and released the official gazette on Critical National Infrastructure and Information (CNII), which seeks to protect telecoms infrastructure from willful damage and from incessant closure of telecoms sites.
But to the utmost surprise of telecoms operators, the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA), early this month, sealed six telecoms hubs that are connected to several telecoms sites in the state and its environs, demanding for payment of huge sums of money before the hubs will be unsealed
The sealing of the telecoms hubs prohibited telecoms personnel from entering the hubs.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is also working with telecoms operators to ensure that the major hubs that are connected to several telecommunications sites in Kogi State and its environ, are up and running, to avoid total collapse of the hubs, which could affect several sites that could lead to total collapse of telecoms services.
Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, has commended the fresh initiative taken the ONSA to address the issue of telecoms hubs closure in Kogi Sate.
According to him, since the sealing of the telecoms hubs prohibits telecoms personnel from entering the hubs, it could lead to a complete shutdown of the hubs, when the diesel in the generators powering the hubs runs dry, leading to telecoms outages in the entire Kogi State, part of Abuja metropolis and its environs, since the hubs are connected to several telecoms sites.
Adebayo further explained that the action of Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency would have serious security and economic implications on the Nigerian economy, if it is not urgently addressed.
