More discomfort for Nigerians as NIMC issues fresh directive

With a fresh notice from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) discountenancing National Identification Number (NIN) generated via Bank Verification Number (BVN), frustrations of Nigerians may have been compounded.

The directive, yesterday, to citizens to go the whole hog of enrolment further elicited disenchantment for the verification exercise introduced last month by the Federal Government.

On its Twitter handle, @nimc_ng, the commission said Nigerians must complete their NIN registration, even if their BVN generates the special digit.

The notice read: “If your NIN was generated due to the BVN record harmonisation with the National Identity Database, you will not have access to the NIMC mobile app and your NIN-SIM integration will be invalid.

“Kindly visit an enrolment centre to complete your NIN registration.” The new order comes a day after NIMC warned Nigerians to stay away from a fake app that claims to help link NIN to SIM cards.

The commission claimed that the app was run by fraudsters, who used it to harvest NINs and BVNs. While crowds continued to besiege the enrolment centres, others have kept throwing tantrums at the Federal Government, NIMC and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for making them pass through what they described as harrowing experiences.

A Twitter user, Oladejo Fabolude with the handle @the_dej, wrote: “A significant section of the population have had their biometrics captured for licences, passports, BVN and SIM registration all at the instance of the government. Any one of these can be linked online to generate a NIN without going to a location to capture the same data.”

Another, Black Magic #EndSARS with the account @joe_unofficial, wrote: “I’m at the @nimc_ng centre in Ipaja. Omo, the politics going on just to get the proper recognition by the country alone is stressful.

“This country is not my own. I am just passing through.” Ayanate|| OA5 Communications noted: “Better disconnect my lines. Because nothing will make me go to any NIMC centre.”

Already, some subscribers, under the aegis of the Association of Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers (ATCIS), have called for suspension of the assignment due to COVID-19 risks.

The National President, Sina Bilesanmi, in a statement, condemned the alleged mistreatment of his members nationwide by NIMC, demanding suspension of the exercise and apologies for subscribers.

BESIDES, full activities have resumed at the NIMC headquarters in Abuja.

The commission’s Director-General, Aliyu Aziz, vowed his management’s commitment for welfare and health of staff. He enjoined them to go about their duties in total compliance with extant COVID-19 protocols.

Speaking to The Guardian, Aziz promised that more personal protective equipment (PPE) would be provided for the workers.