SIM Cards Barring: PH Residents Crowd NIMC Office

The office of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Port Harcourt early this week witnessed unprecedented crowd.
This follows last Monday’s barring of lines by network providers over failure of over 23 million subscribers to link their National Identity Number (NIN) with their lines. The action follows Federal Government’s directive to network providers to disconnect users after several months of grace had been given stretching from last year October to the end of the year 2021.
For many residents of Port Harcourt, who were affected by the development, the directive did not only take them by surprise, it equally put them under pressure and tight corner since many cannot coonect or make calls.
When The Tide Metro visited some offices of network providers, there was no room to accommodate complaints and the crowd that came calling.
From the MTN office at Aba Road to the customer’s office of Globacom just opposite NIMC complex, the pressure was huge, such that many of the network users were often directed to validate their lines.
Mr. Hamilton Ibiso told The Tide Metro that he had been at the NIMC office for the past three days without success, “things are not working out well in this country,” he fumed.
Ibiso related that he had registered for his NIN last October, ‘ uptill now, it has not been validated”, he lamented, “I have been coming here for the past two weeks now and they have always asked me to come back.”
Ibiso is not alone in his ordeal, as 70-year-old Chief Samuel Onyebi narrated his story, “ They blocked my line since on Tuesday and I had to come here”.
Chief Onyebi said the pressure on NIMC staff is due to the number of residents who want their numbers validated.
The 70-year-old man said the barring of lines was sudden. When he was asked what he felt about the situation, Onyebi said, “I have been here since morning, and I wonder why they did not decentralise the registration just like they did with INEC voters registration. Most of the people you see here come from the villages. I will enjoin the government to employ more hands, so it will reduce pressure.”
The same view was expressed by Onyepuluije Okuchukwu, who accompanied his cousin to the NIMC office, “ as you can see most people here have different issues. While some have NIN, others do not have.”
The Tide Metro learnt that many line users whose numbers were barred had registered but their registration was not fully captured, and that became a challenge as lines were linked to NIN.
A police officer who spoke to The Tide Metro on condition of anonymity said he had visited MTN office but was referred back to the NIMC office, “I have done my NIN,” he stated but they told me there was a digital error”.
Gbenga Ademologun lamented that the process of queuing to be captured is stressful, “ I do not have any option than to come here,” he said, “If my number was not disconnected, I would not have done it.”
Ademologun said he had wasted the whole of the day to be captured for his NIN. He described the directive by government as uncivilised, “in advanced countries, you do not have to come and waste the whole of the day doing one thing”.
Even though the intention of government to link lines to NIN was good, Ademologun observed that there were many ways to reduce the hassles associated with it, “ I know it is because of security purpose but the way It is being done is not civilised”.
On the way forward, Francis Ifeanyi Chukwu suggested that NIMC should collaborate with banks to reduce the pressure, “I remember that initially some banks like GTB and Stanbic /IBTC used to generate NIN through BVN for their customers yet many of the people here have similar problems.”
An official of the NIMC who sought not to be mentioned said those NIN generated through BVN still have to be validated or “modified” by the commission hence the need for such people to come and revalidate.
Unfortunately, Ifeanyichukwu said he has spent the whole of the day just to get his number sorted out, “ I left my work since morning and yet I have not been able to sort it out,” he raged.

By: Kevin Nengia