Large Crowd Gathers At NIMC Office In Lagos For NIN Registration Amid COVID-19 Second Wave

Large crowds on Monday gathered at the Alausa office of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Lagos in a bid to register and obtain the National Identity Number as the country continues to battle with a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to pictures shared by a Twitter user, Aremu Pokipoki (@prinzgbemi), most people at the NIMC’s office were not wearing face masks or observing physical distancing, thereby flouting the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the government.

 “The crazy thing is that the NIMC office at Alausa is just like 5 minutes’ drive from the Governor's Office and State House, sighs. Putting people's lives at risk in a pandemic, cluelessness and sheer wickedness (sic),” he tweeted.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), not less than 78,434 persons have contracted the virus while 68,303 persons have been discharged, with 1,221 persons dead.

The agency has said a maximum of 50 people are allowed in an enclosed space provided distancing rules are followed.

“Outdoor gatherings are preferred; all attendees must wash or sanitise their hands before and after attendance and physical distancing and wearing of face masks must be adhered to for all attendees,” it said.

The Nigerian government had last week issued an ultimatum to all telecommunications operators in the country to block all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) without National Identification Number (NIN).

It also ordered the network operators to ask all their subscribers to provide valid NIN to update their records and suspend SIM registration.