SAN FRANCISCO, December 21, (THEWILL) – There was uproar at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) office in Ikeja, Lagos, Monday, as a huge crowd of enrollees approached the centre to be captured for the National Identity Number (NIN), only to have their hopes dashed.
The exercise almost degenerated into a violent protest when the people were told that they would no longer be attended to after distributing forms to some of them.
The crowd had built up to a large size by 9 am when the office began to attend to the people.
However, an official of the Commission later told the gathering that the process for NIN registration had been put on hold at the NIMC Lagos office until further notice.
The official explained that they had to shut the office on the order from their head office in Abuja, without further details.
Those who spoke to TheWILL revealed that some of them arrived the centre as early as 4 am Monday, only to meet a list bearing over 300 names in the custody of the guards.
It was learnt that some enrollees had come from the far ends of Lagos suburb such as Ajah, Badagry, Ikorodu and FESTAC.
Some of them explained that they were directed by other Lagos offices to visit the NIMC office at Alausa, Ikeja, for reasons of fresh enrollment or to effect corrections in their existing records.
An enrollee who spoke to TheWILL by phone from the centre expressed concern over the development at the Ikeja office of NIMC.
“This place is like a huge market; the crowd cannot be imagined. There is anger, frustration and disappointment among the people.
“Many of them said they passed the night here, yet nobody is going to be attended to”, said Mrs. Constance Agada, a school teacher in Lagos.
Agada said the angry crowd was at the verge of embarking on a violent protest when security officials arrived to restore order.
It could be recalled that the Nigerian government had announced last week that subscribers to all networks in the country are mandated to provide their NIN, else, they would be blocked from using their SIM cards.
The government gave two weeks deadline, after which SIM cards without NIN will be blocked.
Communicating the directive, a statement from NIMC said the major telephone networks must require all their subscribers to provide their NIN.
“The submission of NIN by subscribers to take place within two weeks (from today December 16, 2020 and end by 30 December, 2020).
“After the deadline, ALL SIMs without NINs are to be blocked from the networks.
“A Ministerial Task Force comprising the Minister and all the CEOs (among others) as members is to monitor compliance by all networks. Violations of this directive will be met by stiff sanctions, including the possibility of withdrawal of operating License,” the statement reads.
Despite the short notice and outrage by Nigerians, the government said there would be no extension of the deadline.
There are fears that the NIN registration order would lead to violation of the Covid-19 protocols as the crowd would be uncontrollable.
Agada said, “Although many have their face masks on, there is no room for physical distancing. No Covid-19 protocol is observed here because of the crowd and no queue is maintained. This is a dangerous scenario.”
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