05 September 2019

The Special Prosecutor of the Court of Anti-Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) in Benin has called on mobile operators MTN and Moov to end sale of pre-registered SIM cards.

According to reports, the sale of those cards, pre-registered with another person’s name is not in accordance with the country’s regulatory guidelines. 

“In any event, mobile operators will be held accountable for violating legal requirements as a result of their negligence in ensuring that formalities relating to subscribers’ registration are fully complied with,” said prosecutor Gilbert Togbonon.

The CRIET prosecutor demands strict compliance with the regulations on subscriber identification in order to reduce national insecurity risks, especially in view of the terrorist attacks in several west African nations and particularly those bordering and neighbouring Benin.