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Although a significant portion of the registration for National Identification Number (NIN) is done online, completing the entire process still remains manual and subject to physical verification, creating room for many Nigerians to be exploited by officials carrying out the process.
Even though the exploitation has been ongoing, concerns came afresh with the recent news that mobile lines not linked with NIN by December 30 would be blocked.
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy had mandated all network operators to block subscribers who are not registered on the government identity project in two weeks – ending December 30. The ministry has now added another three weeks to the deadline for subscribers with NIN but yet to link it to mobile lines, and six weeks extension for subscribers without NIN from 30 December 2020 to 9th February 2021.
Read more FG extends deadline for NIN update to January 19 February 9, 2021
When the two-week deadline was announced, Mrs Bello, a 43-year-old homemaker, was not going to sit by and lose a line she has been using for the past five years. The problem was she hadn’t registered for NIN. The last time she tried to register in 2016, the queue was so long she turned back home.
But this time, she had no option as maintaining her connections depended on retaining the number. Her husband gave her a number of a friend who works with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) who could accelerate the process for her.
According to NIMC, the registration requires downloading the pre-enrolment form online. The intending enrollee will then fill all the mandatory fields online, print the form, and walk into the nearest NIMC Registration Centres with original and valid supporting documents. At the enrolment centre, the applicant will be directed to a counter where the enrolment officer will verify the presence and compliance of all details of the application. If the application is in order, the enrolment officer will guide the applicant to proceed with the capture of biometrics (10 fingers and facial image) and the applicant will collect a transaction ID Slip as evidence of the transaction.
When Mrs. Bello got to the NIMC registration point at Kosofe Local Government in Lagos, the queue was as she suspected, very long. A lot of people had also refused to join the queue as well. There were only a few people putting on masks in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols, but there was no distance enough to separate one person from the other. She called the contact her husband gave her.
“Madam, I can help you get it in less than 30 minutes, but it will cost you N4,000,” he said. “I am only doing this because I know your husband. But if you don’t want, you can wait in the queue, maybe you will get the opportunity to do it in March 2021, because we have already given out the numbers for February.”
Though disappointed, Mrs Bello was compelled to part with her hard-earned N4,000. And she won’t be the first nor last victim of extortionists masquerading as agents who collude with NIMC officials to take advantage of the mad rush to meet the December 30 deadline to fleece Nigerians of their income.
As BusinessDay learnt, the extortion had apparently begun even before the Minister of Communication announced the two-week deadline.
Seun Olayiwola, a digital marketing professional, told BusinessDay how he spent N4,500 at two NIMC locations to get registered in the first week of December 2020.
He had gone to one of the locations at Apapa, Lagos, where an official who works with the local government demanded N500. Although he gave the money to the official, the process was not as swift as promised, so he left for an assignment. A few days later he went to another location in Surulere where he was asked to pay N4,000. Remembering his previous experience, he agreed and the registration was done on time as promised.
“They even laminated the printout for me,” Olayiwola said.
Another eyewitness went to the length of writing a letter to NIMC.
“Dear Sir/Madam, I write this letter to inform you of the extortion going on currently at the Post Primary Education Board (Warri Zonal Office), 10 Swamp Road. The NIMC officials are not attending to citizens that want to register. They are saying that the only way we can get the registration done is to pay the sum of 5,000 naira only,” the person wrote.
These extortions, unfortunately, keep happening despite repeated assurances by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy that the entire registration process is free.
Experts say aside from desperation, by not automating the entire process and requiring applicants to appear at physical locations to complete registration, NIMC created an occasion for extortion which its officials are now exploiting.
“It might not be in all NIMC offices but they make it difficult for people to easily register for NIN. From extortion to bribery, and to staying in the queue for hours and one will be told to come back the next day only to discover that only five people were registered the whole day,” said a victim who didn’t want to be mentioned.
NIMC has since issued a statement distancing itself from all forms of extortion.
“The National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) stands against all forms of extortion regarding the registration/obtainment process and Nigerians are encouraged to report all cases of extortion to 08157691071; 09134939433; and/or actu@nimc.gov.ng,” the commission noted in a post on Twitter.
NIMC has also asked the public to take pictures of officials who extorted them as proof to enable the commission to resolve the complaints and sanction the erring officials appropriately.
