Residents of Imo State have decried an alleged fraud by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Owerri Municipal Council, the Garden Park Business Centre and other private centres concerned with the National Identification Number (NIN) registration since the pronouncement for application or compliance by citizens was made by the federal government.
The people who went to the Garden Park Business Centre, Owerri Municipal Council Headquarters, National Identification Management Commission’s office among other centers in the state to register for their NIN were not happy of the outrageous and unwarranted charges imposed on them despite the fact that the federal government said the NIN registration is free of charge having gotten sponsors from the World Bank, Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) and European Union (EU) up to the tune of $433 million.
Some of the victims, who spoke to News Echo in anonymity, blamed the federal government for failing to monitor effectively the NIN registration following its pronouncement for application or compliance by all citizens. They regretted that the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) is even collecting huge money from citizens before they are registered and issued NIM.
They alleged that the form for the NIN which is free of charge, according to the federal government, is sold at N500 after which N1000 or N2000 will be collected for capturing alone including N4000 conversion of the NIN to Subscriber Identification Module (SIM card). While some wealthy citizens pay extreme to get Express Service. Some victims lamented that after paying all these unnecessary charges, their NIN would not still be issued to them due to one unsubstantiated fault or another only known to NIMC.
Hence they called on government to look deeply into this anomaly and address it squarely to stop further fraud and bribery which they cried had cost them so much expenditure. According to the victims, “it is very bad that those centres concerned with NIN registration and issuance are defrauding citizens.
NIMC tells us that the federal government does not fund them to do the registration and could not do anything except collecting money from those complying to that effect. Other private centers say their systems had issues which will be ratified soon, but to no avail. Our lines have been barred from outgoing calls or SMS”.
“Which kind of hardship be this which we have been subjected to in the name of NIN. Why will they tell us that their systems had a fault after collecting huge amount of money from us. They are yet to settle many people who applied and paid for the NIN even as our lines have been barred by the service providers at the instance of the federal government”.
Another citizen, an old woman of about 70 years of age, who was quite impatient due to hunger, exhaustion, complained that “I did mine in August 2021. And till now I was told I have been registered elsewhere, but that claim is not true. Even in dream, I have not done that elsewhere.
The Garden Park Business Centre and other private and government owned centres are tricking us and deceiving us to make money whereas government had told us that the NIN registration and issuance are free of charge. What will I do now that my line has been barred from outgoing call or SMS since they are telling me I have been registered elsewhere.
Will I be incommunicado or have my identity punctured. I’m confused because I do not know what to do. I’m not deeply pained at the huge money they defrauded me, but my business associates and other contacts which I will miss. I’m finished. Federal government should help us urgently”.
At Owerri Municipal Council, Garden Park Business Centre, NIMC and other centres within urban and rural areas of Imo State where NIN registration is done, residents cue in the rain or sun and still pay hugely to obtain the NIN, but at the end many will not get the NIN and NIMC would not bulge to care of the anomaly and then rectify it.
The NIMC or the federal government only bothers at issuing stern warning to citizens who are yet to comply with the NIN registration directives, but does not proffer admissible ground to solving problems of citizens who find it so difficult to scale through in terms of getting the NIN without spending huge amount of naira.
Before now, issues had cropped up where the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, was accused of hijacking the NIN over an alleged link with terrorism and being a member and one of the financiers of Miyetti Allah who allegedly sponsors Fulani Herders to inflict harm on helpless and harmless farmers across the country over grazing fields and territory.
But today, the same Pantami has paid his opponents bad by ordering Nigerian Communications Commission, the telecoms industry regulator to direct all telecoms operators to begin deactivation of all unlinked SIM cards with immediate effect, insisting that all telecoms subscribers must comply with the NIN-SIM linkage policy of the federal government. A reliable source in government had disclosed that “the federal government had barred all outgoing calls on every SIM card that is not linked to the National Identification Number (NIN) of the SIM card owner”.
The source, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ibrahim Pantami, while issuing the directives on Monday to bar outgoing calls on every unlinked Subscriber Identification Module (SIM card), ordered also the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the Telecoms Industry Regulator, to direct all telecoms operators to begin deactivation of all unlinked SIM cards with immediate effect, stating that all telecoms subscribers must comply with the NIN-SIM linkage policy of the federal government.
The federal government hinted that “125 million SIMs have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication and that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued over 78 million unique NINs till date”.
Thus, in a statement issued by the federal government and jointly signed by the Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde and the Head, Corporate Communications at NIMC, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, the Minister commended citizens and legal residents for their support during the exercise to link the NIN to the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM).
Pantami told citizens that “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the implementation of the policy with effect from the 4th of April, 2022. Consequently, the federal government has directed all Telecoms to strictly enforce the policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in the country. Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage policy from the 4th of April, 2022.
Subscribers of such lines are hereby advised to link their SIMs to their NINs before the Telecoms can lift the restriction on their lines. Affected individuals are hereby advised to register for their NINs at designated centers and thereafter link the NINs to their SIMs through the channels provided by NIMC and the Telecoms, including the NIMC Mobile App”.
Also, media reports have noted that “the World Bank, along with Agence Française de Development (AFD) and the European Union (EU), had reportedly provided $433 million for Nigeria’s National Identity Card Project”, stressing that “this injection of funds by the World Bank and others coincides with the Nigeria Army’s plans to implement strict identity checks in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. With Operation Positive Identification, the Army hopes to identify suspected militants using valid means of identification”.
The report emphasised that “although, NIMC is yet to name the various partners at this time. It has stated that such service providers would include Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as qualified private vendors and civil society organisations.
Although enrolment would be free, NIMC has plans to remunerate private vendors for each successful enrolment, which includes the complete issuance of a valid and unique NIN to applicants”. Over 27 million citizens are suffering adversely following the barring of their SIM cards from outgoing calls and SMS with billions of naira being lost within 3 days.
Hence the residents are calling on government to have a rethink and allow the people ample time to comply fully with the policy. The citizens without mincing words have called on the federal government to look inwards as to reprimand or sanction those fraudulent centres entrusted with the NIN registration and issuance otherwise many people may shy away from the policy.
