Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), umbrella association for all providers of telecom service in the country, has solicited the support of Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to the infrastructures and installations of members across the country.
Speaking recently when he led a delegation of its members to the IG in Lagos, ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, lamented that despite the transformation of the economy through development in telecommunications sector, the association is still faced a number of environmentally related problems in particular, on the issues of interference with the smooth operations of telecom services.
The association lamented that unless they 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 its members and their infrastructure.
“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.
“The Taxes and Levies (Approved list for Collection) Law of 1998: This law states in its section 2 (1) that members of the Nigeria Police shall only be used to collect taxes in accordance with Tax laws. It also provides that no person, including a tax authority shall use road blocks to collect taxes.
“A reading of section 2 (1) and (2) together can only lead to the conclusion that the police force should only intervene in collection of taxes pursuant to lawful order.”
The association also requested that IG directs all Police commands to strictly enforce taxation demands pursuant to court orders only, stressing that 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.
“Unlawful act of sealing of BTS/Sites by Government Agents through the help of Men of the Police Force: The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act CAP. C39 L.F.N. (2004) has clearly criminalised the illegal sealing of telecommunication mast.
“These laws criminalizes destruction and damage of infrastructure including telecommunications infrastructure. The NCC has issued a number of public information in this regard.
“We are aware that in section 6, that the police is empowered to arrest anyone sealing off telecom base stations.
It is a contradiction for the law to empower the Police to protect infrastructure and for the same Police to be used to illegally deny access to property they are enjoined to protect.
“Section 1 (1) (b) criminalizes the obstruction of communications. Denying access to sites using the Police ultimately results in obstruction, a process which is to be prevented by the police.”