Thousand of applicants for the National Identity Number (NIN) across the country were yesterday locked out as workers of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) began a nationwide strike.
It was gathered that the president of the NIMC branch of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Mr. Lucky Michael, and the union’s secretary, Mr. Odia Victor, jointly signed the strike notice.
“Consequent upon the just-concluded congress of the above mentioned association that took place on January 6, 2021, the unit’s executive directs all members on Grade Level 12 and below in the head office and state offices to report to their respective duty posts on January 7, 2021 (yesterday) and do nothing.
“All members at the local government offices and special centres are advised to stay away from their centres as task force and implementation committees would be on parade to ensure total compliance with the directive,” the notice stated.
A communiqué issued at the end of the branch’s congress meeting of the ASCSN said the strike became imperative, considering the risks involved in the current registration due to the exposure of the workers to risks associated with COVID-19.
The workers also demanded for payment of overtime and enough tools to do their work.
“Staff members were infected with COVID-19 and adequate measures have not been taken to curtail the spread. The meeting resolved that safety of staff should be prioritised. Furthermore, the office environment should be fumigated immediately.
“The congress agreed that the NIMC staff salary structure approved by the Federal Government vide Presidential assent be implemented in the personnel appropriation of the 2021 annual budget effective January 2021.
“That the lopsided and irregular promotion done in 2017 and 2020 be reviewed, regularised and gazetted in accordance with public service rules,” the communiqué further stated.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday warned against sale of the NIN saying perpetrators would be liable for any criminality linked to their number.
In a statement in Abuja, spokesman of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said some unscrupulous persons were exploiting enrollees’ desperation to induce them to sell their NIN for a fee.
Uwujaren said the buyers of the numbers were also trading with persons “whose motives are anything but noble.”
“The EFCC wishes to alert Nigerians that it is not only illegal to sell their NIN, they stand the risk of vicarious liability for any act of criminality linked to their NIN.
“In other words, they risk arrest and prosecution for any act of criminality linked to their NIN whether or not they are directly responsible for such crimes,” he stated.
While warning registrants against falling for the ploy, the agency advised them to report anyone seeking to buy NIN to the nearest office of the EFCC or other law enforcement agencies.
The federal government had through the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), directed telecoms operators to deactivate telephone lines of subscribers not linked to their NIN.
It also said subscribers with NIN have January 19 deadline to link their NIN with their SIM cards, while those without NIN have until February 9 to fully comply.
Currently, over 100 million Nigerians have yet to do so, a development that has caused huge crowds to gather at the various offices of NIMC across the country in breach of the COVID-19 protocol.
