As the October 31 deadline date for the linkage of National Identity Number (NIN) with Subscribers Identification Number (SIM) approaches, chaotic scenes have intensified at registration centres, especially the telecommunications outlets nationwide.

This is even as registration agents, at some of the telecoms sales outlets and National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) centres, have continued to extort Nigerians waiting to get registered.

Journalists visit some of the service outlets, including that of Airtel, Globacom and MTN, confirming the return of crowds and extortion of between N2000 and N3000 per applicant for the service.

At Airtel service outlets the agents claimed that the N2000 was the registration fee. Subscribers in large numbers were seen waiting to be captured and registered.

One of the agents, when queried that the NIN registration ought to be free, said, “the order to collect money is from above.”

At the MTN office, though not overcrowded, subscribers experienced some delays because there were issues relating to the confirmation of some Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), especially those that start with 221/222.

At the Globacom office on Airport Road, subscribers were seen waiting to be captured and registered adequately.

MEANWHILE, the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMs) has called for a two-month extension of the NIN-SIM linkage exercise.

The notice titled, ‘NIN Enrolment Is Free’, read, “The punishment for extortion if convicted is seven years imprisonment as stipulated in sections 14, 20, & 21, of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission Act and Sections 10 & 12 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.”