The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has explained why the National Identification Number does not always lead to the arrest of kidnappers, terrorists and other criminals.
Speaking during Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Coker-Odusote said the NIN remains the foundation of Nigeria’s security architecture, but noted that criminals often avoid detection by using the mobile phones of their victims rather than their own registered lines.
According to her, this tactic makes it difficult for security agencies to trace suspects through identity-linked phone records, even though the NIN is designed to strengthen national security and identity management.
“We already know the NIN is the foundational identity for the security architecture, but a lot of the time, you find out the kidnappers use the phones of the people they have abducted, which means how do you trace them because they are not using their own phones?” she said.
The NIMC boss said the challenge does not reduce the importance of the NIN system, but shows the need to deepen national identity coverage and improve the country’s security framework.
Coker-Odusote also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has directed the Commission to ensure that every Nigerian is captured in the National Identity Database before the end of the year.
“The President has given us till the end of this year to make sure we capture every Nigerian in the National Identity Database,” she said.
She said expanding the database remains a major priority for NIMC as part of efforts to improve identity verification, strengthen security operations and support national planning.
