As against the directives of the Federal Government on NIN, some network subscribers have complained that those telcos have started blocking their SIM cards before the deadlines approved by the government.
Consequently, large crowds resurfaced at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) centres nationwide on Wednesday after the New Year break.
The Federal Government had January 19 as deadline for telcos subscribers with NIN to link their NIN with their SIM cards while subscribers without NIN have until February 9 to do so.
Speaking on the large crowds that resurfaced on Wednesday, NIMC Regional Coordinator, Mrs Funmi Opesanwo said, “When we came this morning, a lot of applicants complained that their SIM (cards) have been blocked and that is why we are experiencing this large number today.
“We are trying to manage the situation. Applicants have been seated and they came in for different services, so, there is no problem.
“We have to be mindful of the safety protocols and we cannot exceed the number of people, the capacity that we can take, we have to adhere to the guidelines.”
As of October, the total number of mobile network connections was 207.58 million, but currently, only 43 million Nigerians have NIN, thus 164 million telephone users are at the risk of being deactivated on January 19, 2021.
