AGAINST imminent danger, the Lagos State government, through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development (PPUD) has called on banks and other financial institutions in the state to maintain their existing communications masts and towers and pull down weak ones that litter the various parts of the state.General Manager, Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU) of PPUD, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, made the call at a stakeholders' meeting involving all banks operating in the state at the weekend.In a related development, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shut down the New Ring Road Branch of First Bank of Nigeria in Ibadan, and the Aladbaka branch of the same bank in Akure, over illegal use of the 5.40 GHz frequency band, which is licensable in Nigeria.NCC's enforcement team led by Mr. Efosa Idehen, who stormed both banks discovered that the frequencies are being illegally used at the banks and also served their officials with warrants of arrests for illegal use of licensable frequencies, thereby denying the Federal Government the revenues accruable from these resources.The warning by URFU, according to Igbokwe, became necessary following the incessant collapse of masts and towers in the state, damaging property worth billions of naira and in some cases, claiming lives of people and leaving many in critical health conditions.Igbokwe said there was need to remind them of the letters written to them to submit the list of all their existing structure for database, and to be prepared to subject all masts and tower structure to integrity test. He further explained that it would remain illegal for any bank to build mast, towers or antennae in the Lagos metropolis without seeking permit from UFRU, the body empowered by PPUD to regulate masts and towers installation in the state. He called on the banks to corporate with UFRU, to enable Lagos government serve the banks and their customers better.According to him, 'the whole essence of regulation is to forestall the incidence of mast collapse in the state, which has claimed lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira in the past.'Igbokwe warned that if the banks failed to pull down their weak masts and towers, UFRU, would embark on such exercise at the expense of the banks as it did in the past.In response, majority of the banks, who were present at the stakeholders' meeting, spoke with one voice, and promised to corporate with the state government in its move to save lives and property in the state.The Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, had last month, held a similar meeting with telecoms operators, who are also involved with masts and antennae for transmitting voice and data services.Although telecoms operators also welcomed the development of regulating to save lives and property in the state, they, however, advised the state government to align with the Federal Government agencies such as National Environmental Standards, Regulatory and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and others, to avoid double regulations and multiple taxations.Idehen, said that the use of illegal frequency band by the bank is against the prescriptions of the Communications Act 2003.NCC informed that at the Ibadan raid, officials of the bank mounted resistance to the enforcement activities resulting in its Operation Manager being arrested and taken to the Iyaganku Police station by the police for obstructing the activities of the enforcement team of the Commission and refusing to lead them to the bank's server room, to enable them isolate the equipment. The case was different at Akure branch where the officials of the bank fully co-operated with the enforcement team of NCC.Idehen, who spoke to journalists later said that the Commission has forewarned all those transmitting illegally on these channels through public notices in the media and that those in contravention would be taken to court.He said the exercise is a continuous one from the one already carried out in various states of the federation and wondered why some of the banks are still illegally using these frequencies when they were not licensed to operate on them. He said it would appear that the banks are the major culprits in the illegal use of frequencies in the 5.40Ghz spectrum band.
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