Public complaints commissioner backs Bill against unsolicited text messages

The Federal Public Complaints Commissioner in charge of Lagos State Mr. Funso Olukoga has called for support on the part of Nigerians for the Bill in the Federal House of Representatives to discourage unsolicited text messages.

The Bill being sponsored by Honourable Ali Madaki from Kano State aims at sanctioning any GSM service provider sending unsolicited SMS to subscribers.

The Commissioner expressed delight at the effort of the Lawmakers to come to the aid of the Mobile Phone users in the country.

He said that the Public Complaints Commission had been in the forefront of the campaign to protect the public against the menace of unsolicited text messages.

The campaign, he said had been based on the high volume of complaints received from the public on the stress experienced in dealing with unsolicited text messages.

The Commissioner pointed out that many of the cases in fact, turned out to be acts undertaken to defraud mobile phone service subscribers.

According to the Commissioner, the Lawmakers and regulatory agencies have to come to a point where priority has to be placed on the protection of the fundamental rights of Nigerians on privacy as enshrined in the constitution Nigerians, he said would be delighted to learn that they would be able to file civil claims against any erring GSM service providers.

On his part, the commissioner pledged the commitment of the Public Complaints Commission in helping to create enlightenment to the general public regarding their rights under the Bill.