The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has closed its Alausa office in Lagos after large crowds gathered there to register for the National Identity Number (NIN).
The shut down according to the spokesman of NIMC Kayode Adegoke was to adhere to COVID-19 protocols as the country battled the second wave of the pandemic.
The Nigerian Communication Commission had directed telecommunications companies to within two weeks suspend phone subscribers who have no NIN.
Speaking to the Punch via text message, Adegoke wrote, “It was only shut down today in order to adhere to the COVID-19 pandemic safety protocol. Enrollment would commence tomorrow but applicants would be given a tally confirming the date of enrolment.”
Also, Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, told The PUNCH on Monday that the NIMC shut down its offices in the state before officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission got to the crowded offices.
Omotoso said, “Officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission learnt that crowd gathered there. So, they went there but before they got there, the people themselves had shut the place because they could no longer control the crowd.
“It was not the Lagos State Government that shut the place; Lagos State Government officials only went there to advise them that it was not good to encourage crowds at such a time like this. They were the ones who shut it down themselves.”
