NIN registration: Court battle begins over FG’s directive to block SIM cards
- The federal government is facing court action over the ongoing NIN registration
- A Nigerian lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, has faulted the directive to block phone subscribers without NIN
- Omirhobo argues that there are health hazards involved in the current registration
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A Nigerian lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, has asked the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to stop the federal government from disconnecting citizens who fail to link their National Identity Number (NIN) to their SIM cards.
The human rights lawyer in the suit accused the government of coercing Nigerians to link their phone numbers with NIN without regard to the COVID-19 protocols, The Guadian reported.
Source: UGC
He argued that it is impracticable and unreasonable for Nigerians to adhere to the NIN registration directive within a very short timeline.
Omirhobo pointed out that the directive had led many Nigerians to breach the coronavirus protocol while attempting to do the registration.
He insisted that the mandate to make the presentation of NIN a condition-precedent for the retrieval of lost and/or damaged telephone lines is a violation of the fundamental right of Nigerians and therefore illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.
The applicant also asked the court to restrain the federal government from coercing or harassing Nigerian citizens under the guise of linking NIN to SIM cards.
Meanwhile, the federal ministry of communications and digital economy has warned Nigerians to be wary of fraudsters as they make efforts to meet the deadline for National Identity Numbers (NIN) registration.
Isa Pantami, the minister who presides over the ministry of communications issued the warning in a Tweet on Tuesday, January 19.
He gave the warning after a parody account, mimicking the Nationa Identity Management Commission (NIMC) claimed that January 19 was the last day for Nigerians to do the National Identification Number (NIN) registration.
In a related report, hundreds of residents of Kubwa area of Abuja, the nation's capital were frustrated on Wednesday, January 20, at the registration centre for the NIN after officials failed to show up for the exercise.
Channels TV reported that the residents had turned up at the centre to beat the deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for SIM cards to be linked with NIN.
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NIMC: Amidst Covid19 spike, crowd gathers for NIN registration | Legit TV
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