Telecom subscribers under the aegis of Association of Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Subscribers, ATCIS , have expressed concern over the possible spread of coronavirus at National Identity Management Commission centres across the country.
The National President, Association of Telephone, Cable TV & Internet Subscribers of Nigeria, Adesina Bilesanmi, in a statement on Friday condemned how the government had exposed Nigerians to the disease in a bid to get them to register for the National Identity Number.
He said the safety and lives of Nigerians were important at a time when there is growing number cases of coronavirus pandemic in the country and loss of lives to the disease on a daily basis.
He stated, “ATCIS has observed from its visitations to different state centres of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that the centres have become a breeding ground to COVID-19.
“At a time when people are encouraged to stay at home and stay safe; when social distance has been acknowledged as the most potent prevention of the spread of the virus, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy has thrown caution to the wind by forcing the subscribers to fight for their SIM cards, while in the process getting their lives endangered.”
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He urged the government to stop exposing Nigerian subscribers to what could trigger a disaster beyond the control of the authorities.
He called on the government to relax the deadline and extending it by another six months.
Bilesanmi said, “More importantly, we expect the government to do better and abolish the fear around NIN-SIM harmonization by extending the deadline as recommended to avoid losing the gains of the exercise to a possible explosion in coronavirus cases.”
