The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has agreed with the Nigeria Army’s clarification that those arrested registering people for NIN in the Niger Republic as fraudsters and “fake”, meaning their claim to be NIMC staff – if at all they did – was proven from the beginning to be false.
According to a press release on Friday, 21 October 2022 signed by the NIMC Director-General, Engr. Aliyu A. Aziz, he said, reports by the media of merely bouncing off such a news item released by the Army, in good faith, one-sided without checking with NIMC if indeed such persons were its officials, shows a hurried and incomplete approach to news reporting, a situation which we urge our media partners to distance themselves from.
The statement read, “A simple check with NIMC would have further confirmed the Army’s professional conclusion that the persons apprehended are indeed impersonators and fraudsters.
“We wish to state categorically that neither NIMC officials nor staff of the NIMC licensed enrolment agents across the country are authorized, nor do they go from one country to another, let alone from Nigeria across the borders, to enroll Nigerians much less foreigners.
“So far, NIMC has a number of licensed diaspora enrolment agents in over 38 countries operating over 152 centres across the world strictly to enroll Nigerians in those countries. The list of the Diaspora enrolment licensed companies, which has been published over time in the media, can be found on the NIMC website at https://nimc.gov.ng/nimc-enrolment-centres/
“The public is by this information put on notice and advised that NIMC does not and will not authorize its staff or its agents to go across any borders to register non-Nigerians, as this is not part of our mandate.
“Fraudsters and impersonators should be pointed out for who they are: criminal elements, and the cooperation of the public is required in assisting security agencies in their work of curbing these crimes in our society.
“NIMC wishes to commend the Nigerian Army for the good job they’re always doing, and more particularly in this respect. NIMC also commends all other security agencies for their untiring efforts in collaborating with us and other sister agencies in the efforts to rid our country of criminal elements.
Recall that the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami on Thursday during the biweekly briefing at the Defence Headquarters said that two suspected fake National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) officials have been arrested in the Niger Republic for allegedly enrolling non-Nigerians for National Identity Number (NIM).
Items recovered from the suspects include National Identification Number (NIN) registration machine, a printing machine, laminating machine, a computer tracking machine, and a generator set among other items.
