Nigerians scramble to register SIM cards

Nigerians are rushing to register their mobile phone SIM cards as the government extends a deadline to associate cards with a unique National Identification Number (NIN). ‘Initially, the government gave telecoms providers until December to register the lines,’ said analyst Garba Zaria. ‘But the deadline was shifted following a series of complaints from phone owners regarding extortions and all sort of discrepancies in obtaining the NIN.’ Radio France Internationale reports that the new deadline is 6 April. The government has ordered telecommunication providers to suspend sales of new SIM cards while existing numbers are registered.