The Nigerian government has revealed that 6,000 individuals from the Niger Republic illegally acquired National Identity Numbers (NIN).
A high-ranking source within the presidency disclosed that the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this known while addressing the Federal Executive Council on Tuesday, 4 February 2025.
The minister further stated that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) had erased the fraudulently obtained NINs from its database.
“The interior minister said NIMC is tidying up the database because they found over 6,000 people from the Niger Republic who obtained NIN. But they have been wiped from the database,” the source stated.
The same source also revealed that Tunji-Ojo had been appointed to a special panel overseeing the humanitarian ministry, which is responsible for conditional cash transfers and other social welfare initiatives.
Confirming the development, the Director-General of NIMC, Bisoye Coker-Odusote, assured that the agency was working to ensure transparency and accuracy in government payments, particularly for humanitarian purposes.
Recall that concerns over fraudulent NIN registrations are longstanding. On 13 October 2022, the Defence Headquarters in Abuja reported that security forces—including the military, Nigeria Police, and the Nigeria Immigration Service—had intercepted two suspected fake NIMC officials.
At the time, Major General Musa Danmadami, then Director of Defence Media Operations, stated: “It was revealed that the suspects had visited the Gagamari IDP camp in the Niger Republic to register non-Nigerians in the IDP camp.”
This revelation follows reports that fraudulent agents have been charging foreign nationals—primarily from neighbouring countries such as the Niger Republic—to obtain Nigerian NINs illegally.
