Foreigners Acquiring National ID Number In Northeast Nigeria
Some foreigners from Chad, Cameroon, and Niger republic are reportedly being enrolled for the NIN in Nigeria, raising concerns over security implications.
Enrolment centres for National Identity Number (NIN) registration in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, are enrolling foreigners from Chad, Cameroon, and the Niger Republic trapped in the city as a result of the insurgency, HumAngle can report.
An official who has followed this development in the past months informed HumAngle that hundreds of foreigners had been enrolled without immigration screening, which violates the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act mandating immigration pass for non-Nigerians.
According to the official who did not want his name mentioned, many of the enrolment centres across Maiduguri have no immigration official on sight, allowing foreigners to register at will.
“Registration centres only focus on extorting N2,000 from applicants regardless of their nationality,” he revealed.
Borno State shares a border with three nations:
Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of Niger. Inhabitants of the border communities on both sides share the same ethnicity, further complicating national identity differentiation.
Nigerian Government in Dec. 2020 asked citizens to link their sim cards with their NIN as part of measures to tackle insecurity challenges confronting the country.
The registration has since been extended several times, as many Nigerians complain about overcrowding, slow response and nepotism at enrolment centres.
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