Gilbert Togbonon (photo), the Special Prosecutor of the Court of Anti-Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) in Benin, called on mobile operators MTN and Moov last June 17 to end sale of pre-registered SIM cards.

The sale of those cards, pre-registered with another person’s name, is not in accordance with the country’s regulatory principles, website cio-mag.com reports. Any offender to the regulations will face severe sanction.

“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.

In view of the terrorist attacks in several West African countries, particularly those bordering Benin, the CRIET prosecutor demands strict compliance with the regulations on subscriber identification in order to reduce national insecurity risks.