Authorities in Nigeria in December last year issued an ultimatum to mobile telecom operators to block all SIM cards not integrated with owner's National Identity Number. 

Consequently, offices of the National Identity Management Commission, the agency responsible for enrolling citizens for the identity number became crowded on daily basis as citizens gathered in large numbers to get enrolled before the initial January deadline. 

Nationwide outcry by citizens who feared they might miss out of the exercise made the National Assembly to intervene and prevailed on the Executive to extend the deadline to the end of February this year.  

WADR's Usman Umar, who monitored some of the registration centres in Abuja and other parts of the country reports that thousands of applicants were Thursday, locked outside of the offices of the National Identity Management Commission across the country following a strike embarked upon by members of staff.