Owerri Residents Pay Bribes To Enrol For NIN Registration At NIMC Office

As Nigerians rush to enroll for the National Identity Number (NIN) across the country, residents of Owerri, the Imo State capital, are paying to get captured.

When THE WHISTLER visited the  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) office in Owerri, a crowd of people was seen struggling to get enrolled for the NIN.

Some of the people told this website that they are made to spend long hours to get registered and some of the NIMC officials exploit the situation by charging money for “express service.”

It was gathered that the NIMC officials charge between N1,500 to N3,000 at the centre.

Mr. OKechukwu Emerenini, a resident of Owerri,  said  he arrived at the venue around 6:30 in the morning and paid the sum of N3,000 so that his  NIN could be generated faster since he had no time to waste.

“I came to this place around 6:30 am and gave a female official the sum of 3000 naira to help hasten my NIN for me. But this is 1pm and I still have not gotten it. I hear they have network issues and will give me my NIN next week Monday,” he stated.

He voiced his frustration at the process, which he said was unorganized. “I am not happy, I wasted a whole day on something I did not later collect and I don’t know if I will still get it by Monday after paying 3000 for something that should be free. It shows how rotten the whole process is,” he lamented.

Another resident who identified himself as Ifeanyi said he had registered but was yet to collect his NIN.

“They have closed for the day; the people you see clustering around are those that theirs are ready. They resume registration around 6:30am and if you are lucky to get registered around that time, you will collect your NIN around 1pm or 2pm”.

When asked if he paid for the registration, he confessed to parting with the sum of N2,000 before he was captured.

“My own is still inside, I paid N2000 yesterday and I’m yet to get the printout”.

It was a different story for Uchechukwu Chikwado who said the whole process was almost free for him because he went through an official of NIMC who is his friend, adding that the only monetary commitment he made was the form he purchased for a token of N50.

“I didn’t pay any money because I know one of the officials and he helped facilitate the process for me without bribe. I only paid 50 naira to purchase the form I filled.”

An official of NIMC who identified himself as Chike said the process was free, except for those in hurry.

“You will first pick the form and fill it, after filling the form you submit it, after submission you wait till it gets to your turn to be captured.

“Then, if you are in haste and you do not want to spend more than one hour here, you can sort your way. Money will be involved, you know national ID card is free but when you are here and you do not want to waste time, that is when an official will tell you the price you have to pay for your ID to be processed, but its free,” he explained.

He said there are various prices for the enrolment depending on the official you meet and how long you want to stay before getting enrolled. The prices range from 1500 to 3000 and the speed of delivery is also dependent on the network server in Abuja as they are experiencing delays since last week Saturday.

“Many agents here have different prices. Some collect N1500 from you and you will spend like 4 to 5 hours here. But some will collect N2000 from you and you might spend less than one hour if you are lucky. Some will even give back monies they collected. Some will collect N3000 and deliver, register and capture and give you the paper.

“If the thing did not go through because our network provider in Abuja is experiencing some setbacks there, you cannot get it even if you bribe.

“ Most of the work we did on Saturday last week are still pending, they have not completed it because they must complete it and send it back to us before the NIN will now drop, and we will now print it for you. Now some of them have not dropped, that is the setback we are experiencing now but they will drop with time. The delay can be attributed to the sudden rush in the registration process and it is causing the data base to be jam-packed.”