Thousands of Borno residents, displaced from their communities by Boko Haram, are being made to pay illegal fees for NIN registration.
Thousands of Borno residents, including many displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, are extorted by public officials when they try to register for the National Identification Number (NIN).
One of the victims is Fatima Bukar, an internally displaced person from Falamfatori who now lives with her relatives in Maiduguri.
Ms Bukar paid 400 per cent above the official rate she was supposed to pay during her NIN registration at the College of Agriculture in Maiduguri.
This newspaper's three-month investigation, however, showed that her experience was not unique and is the norm in many of the NIN registration centres in Borno State.
NIN
NIN was introduced by the federal government and managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). It is mandatory for all Nigerians and is required when citizens apply for important documentation such as opening bank accounts, applying for a passport, or registering for examinations.
After completing the registration, each applicant is issued a NIN and a NIN slip.
NIMC says enrolment, including the provision of the slip, is free for everyone. The fee for reprinting the slip or modifying each updateable field is N500, except for the date of birth modification, which costs N15,000. All fees are payable to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) via the NIMC Remita portal.
Although the commission has condemned extortion or illegal fast-tracking of these services, officials in Borno are taking advantage of displaced persons trying to reintegrate into society. To expose this, I facilitated registration for ten people across four official registration centres in the state.
At about 10 a.m. on 19 July when I visited the NIN registration centre inside the College of Agriculture in Maiduguri, Ms Bukar was sitting under a neem tree close to the registration hall, waiting for her turn.
Ms Bukar, 29, enrolled for NIN in 2021 at the University of Maiduguri. She, however, misplaced her slip. She came to the College of Agriculture registration centre to reprint the slip.
The service should cost N500, according to NIMC. However, she was told at the centre that she had to pay N2,500.
Ms Bukar needed the slip to activate her bank account due to pressure from her customers who buy local caps from her.
"Most of my customers are not in Maiduguri, and they always ask me to send my account details," she said.
She said she agreed to pay the N2,500 so she could get the slip and resolve her challenge at her bank.
"I raised the N2,500 and gave it to them a few days ago. I am here today because they asked me to come and collect the slip, but they keep wasting my time."
Despite paying the inflated amount to the official, Ms Bukar still faced hurdles at the registration centre.
"I guess it is because they have already collected my money, so now they are after new applicants to collect their money too," she told me, alleging that the officials were still asking her to pay more during the collection.
"When I came, that man was still asking me to pay N1,500 again as if I hadn't paid anything," she added, pointing to a man whom this reporter observed interacting with applicants at the centre.
The man, who would later identify himself as Abubakar Computer, was holding pieces of paper on which he wrote applicants' details to prepare them for registration. In reality, as this reporter would later find out, the paper only served as evidence of payment for the registration officer inside the hall.
Pay N,1500 or No Registration
Adama Mohammad and her brother, Al-amin, were sitting behind Fatima under the neem tree, overhearing the conversation between Fatima and me.
She and her brother also shared their experiences.
The teenagers were at the centre to register for their NIN.
Adama and her brother said that since it is an official centre, their parents told them that registration is free, so they were only given N1,000 for their transportation.
The Mohammad's, alongside their parents, were displaced from Konduga by the Boko Haram insurgency. They now live in Maiduguri.
Adama and her brother were preparing for their SSCE and UTME examinations, and NIN registration was compulsory.
"That man said we must pay N1,500," Adama said, pointing at Abubakar Computer.
I volunteered to pay for both Adama and her brother. Instead of speaking to Abubakar Computer, I went inside the registration hall to talk to the man in charge of registration. However, the man asked me to meet Abubakar Computer outside.
"Abubakar, finish with them," he said to me and other applicants who approached him.
I, working with my colleague, met Mr Abubakar to discuss the registration of the two applicants.
Seeing me with the applicants, Mr Abubakar quickly attended to us. He brought out two pieces of paper, wrote their details on them, and soon, negotiation started.
Normally, after registration, an applicant would be asked to come back after four to five working days to collect the NIN slip, but Mr Abubakar assured me that he would give the slip to Adama and her brother instantly if I paid N4,000 for both applicants.
"You do not have to wait for them (the applicants); I will do everything for them, including printing their NIN slip, so they can go home once and for all," Mr Abubakar told me.
I tried to bargain to see whether the go-to-man would reduce the charges.
"No problem, you can bring it," Mr Abubakar reluctantly said after I bargained to pay N3,500 for both applicants.
Abubakar Computer kept his promise. After a few hours, Adama and her brother received their NIN slips, while Fatima and the other applicants had to wait four to five days for theirs.
Amina Musa (real name changed to avoid victimisation by school authorities), a student of Maiduguri Technical School who was also preparing for her SSCE and UTME couldn't hide her frustration after she learned Adama collected her NIN slip almost immediately after registration.
"Today is exactly one week since I had my registration, and I also paid N1,500," Amina told me. "If they can give us our slip instantly, why make us spend money on transportation?"
Amina, dressed in her school uniform, got her NIN and her slip that day, six days after she applied and paid for a service the government says is free.
Ramat Polytechnic centre
The situation was similar at other registration centres in the Borno State capital.
When this reporter visited the registration centre inside Ramat Polytechnic at about 11 a.m. on 25 July, some applicants were waiting to be registered, while others had finished their registration and were about to leave.
One of those who had finished their registration was Ismail Sani.
Mr Sani is one of the millions of Borno residents whose businesses were affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The insurgency has led to over 350,000 deaths, mainly in Borno State, and displaced millions of people, according to official estimates. Several businesses had to shut down or reduce their operations as the terrorists took over some communities and attacked others at will.
In December 2020, to assist some of the displaced people, the Norwegian Refugee Council collaborated with NIMC to get e-icards for about 10,000 victims across Borno and Adamawa states.
However, the ongoing government resettlement project and closing of IDP camps have led many victims to try to resettle and reintegrate into the community of their choice.
Normalcy is gradually returning as the terrorists have been virtually pushed to the fringes of the state, which borders Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Businesses, like those of Mr Sani, are gradually returning to normal.
However, to revive his cement export business to Chad, he needed a NIN.
He visited the centre at Ramat Polytechnic to get registered.
"Five days ago, they (officials) asked me to pay N5,000, but I refused and only gave N2500. Today, when I came to collect my slip, they asked me to pay N500 for printing, and I did," Mr Sani told this reporter while leaving the centre. He did not get the slip that day. He was told to come back the next day because the internet connection was bad.
Mr Sani said he would not have bordered on registering for NIN but for his business.
"I only needed this thing (national identification) because each time I want to go to Chad, the soldiers on the road will disturb me to bring identification," he said. "I have to come and do it because it is the business I know, so I cannot stop it. It was not easy for us a few years back when we couldn't even travel out of the state to do our business."
Another victim of the exploitation at the Ramat Polytechnic centre was Abdullahi Ali.
Mr Ali said he needs the NIN to travel through security checkpoints in the state.
He said he chose the Ramat Polytechnic centre because it was an official centre and he believed it would be free of illegal charges.
"I heard on television that NIN registration is free, but the reality here appears contrary to my beliefs," he told me. "They are collecting N1,500 for enrollment and I do not have this amount."
While discussing with Mr Ali, the NIMC official at the centre approached me and said he was not comfortable with my presence. He said he had seen me moving around the centre. That was true, I was at the centre twice before for my preliminary investigation. So he offered me a plastic chair to sit at a spot where I could hardly see what was happening in the centre.
To uncover the corruption at the centre, I devised an alternative plan. I asked my colleague to pretend that he brought his father for enrollment.
The plan worked.
My colleague negotiated with the official to register the father, who in reality was just an applicant we met at the centre. We also included another applicant, thus seeking NIN registration for two people.
Negotiations started between the official, later identified as Adamu Kachalla, and Salim Musah (not real name), a colleague.
"Just bring anything, no problem," Mr Kachalla told Mr Musah when he asked about the registration fee.
Eventually, Mr Musah gave Mr Kachalla N2,000 in my presence. This reporter joined the negotiation after telling Mr Kachalla he would bring him more clients.
"Do not worry; I can also do it for free," Mr Kachalla told me.
But this story is not just about victims who were able to pay the illegal fees. I also encountered several others who wanted to register but did not have the money requested by the officials.
In Bayo Local Government of the state, many applicants visited the NIN registration centre inside the local government secretariat on 29 May but many could not cope with the extortion.
One of such was Aisha Musa. She had already registered but the officials asked her to bring N2,000 as a registration fee before issuing the NIN slip.
Aisha, a student at the Government Day Secondary School Briyel, was preparing to write her SSCE. She did the registration a week before but did not have the means to pay the N2,000 demanded by the officials.
I stepped in and pretended to be Aisha's brother. However, both Aisha and my fixer only agreed to this arrangement after I told them I run an NGO that supports enrollment. So, I handed over N2,000 to Aisha to make the payment herself while I observed.
At the registration office, two men were wearing casual clothes. They seemed to be on break when I and Aisha approached them.
"I am here to collect my national identification card," Aisha spoke to a man lying down on a tree-sitter chair,"but can you reduce something for me, even if it's N500?" Aisha asked.
They refused and tried to justify the extortion.
"Look at this device; we charge N150 every day, and we have to eat food as well," the official said.
When my fixer asked the man if he was an official and was being paid salaries by the government, he said, "You are talking about salary - how much is the salary? Everybody is protecting his own interest."
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He collected the N2,000 from Aisha and eventually gave her her slip.
NIN Is Free, but We Collect N500 for Fuel
On 22 July at about 10:45 a.m., I visited the Biu Local Government secretariat, where a NIN registration centre was located. Many applicants were at the registration office, waiting for their turn. I had arranged to register five people.
One NIMC official, identified as Mallam Modu, was attending to me when the registration network faltered. But that did not stop the negotiation. He took me and the five applicants to his office, a few steps from the registration hall.
"The network is not good now, but we hope it will improve, and we will process the registration for them (the five applicants)," the official said after I introduced myself as someone who runs a foundation and is willing to encourage enrollment by paying for applicants.
"NIN registration is free, but they (his co-officials) collect N500 for fuel. There is also a declaration of age certificate that we have to provide to the applicants because they do not have it, and each is also N500, making N1,000 per applicant," the official added. I gave him the money and he wrapped the N5,000 into his pocket.
"Don't worry, as soon as the network comes back, it will be done," the official said. However, throughout the day, the network did not improve, nor did it improve the following day.
It was on the third day that Fatima Ali, one of the applicants, got her NIN and her slip.
"This thing you are doing is very good. Only God can reward you," Fatima said in a video sent to me. "But if you could expand this project, it would be beneficial because I know many people, even in our area, who are willing to register but do not have the money."
Officials react
Some of the officials involved in the extortion blamed the poor funding of their offices for the act.
"If they (the government) will provide printers, papers, constant power, and food, I will do it free of charge," the registration officer in Bayo said.
However, when this reporter contacted the main NIMC Office in Maiduguri to ask whether the commission was aware of the extortion in different parts of the state, the acting coordinator said he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"I am not authorised to speak to the media, and even the coordinator, who is out of town, cannot speak with the media," the acting coordinator, who gave his name as M.E. Fariku, said.
NIN is free - NIMC Spokesperson
Since 2020, several media reports have alleged extortion in Borno NIN registration centres. This investigation shows that extortion is still widespread.
However, when I confronted Kayode Adegoke, the NIMC spokesperson, with my findings, he said the agency was not aware of the extortion.
"We are not aware. NIN registration is free, and we have been saying it. Tell them not to pay money. NIN is free."
This story was produced with support from the Tiger Eye Foundation under the On Nigeria programme, funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
