OFFICERS of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other states are hardly issued official ID cards when they are employed. Consequently, they resort to self-help by obtaining them from the black markets where street vendors have become major producers of ID cards for NIS Staff. Beyond security implications, The ICIR’s investigation shows that this trend which has been ongoing for years has not abated even with the recent commissioning of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Centre, touted to be a “one of a kind” data and biometric hub in Africa.
On December 10, President Bola Tinubu commissioned the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Technology Innovation Centre at the agency’s Abuja headquarters.
The President declared that with the launch of the technology facility, “the Service is taking its rightful place as a security agency.”
“The integration of this security project that would monitor our borders – air, land and sea – and give us prior information as to the identify of persons entering and leaving the country, amongst other things, is a fulfilment of our dream of a secure border,” Tinubu said.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji–Ojo, said that the technology being deployed at the facility, named after President Tinubu, “is one of the best in Africa which is certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)”.
On her part, the Comptroller General of the NIS, Kemi Nandap, described it as “the system we have put in place aims to protect our borders and ensure national security”, adding that, “it functions to detect suspicious travel patterns, pick out persons of interest, biometrics real time 24 hours surveillance, among others.”
Unknown to President Tinubu and other guests who had come to celebrate the technology, a few metres from where they were seated, in the main administrative building, was the Service’s staff biometric centre, which had not yet produced identity cards for officials for at least three years.
Unknown to President Tinubu and other guests who had come to celebrate the technology, a few metres from where they were seated, in the main administrative building, was the Service’s staff biometric centre, which had not yet produced identity cards for officials for at least three years.
Immigration officials who spoke with The ICIR in confidence confirmed that the biometric centre has not produced a single ID card for officials since 2021 and that they have had to get and pay for their identification cards from roadside vendors.
The busy compound of the NIS national headquarters on the ever-busy Airport Road in Sauka, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, glowed as usual on that Monday afternoon in November 2024, just a couple of weeks before the commissioning of the new biometric centre.
The ICIR, however, observed a strange occurrence.
Immigration officers, some in uniforms, some in mufti, entrusted with protecting the country’s borders among other very sensitive tasks, gathered around a shop at the busy Mammy Market at the NIS headquarters. They waited impatiently for their turns to collect official identity cards for as low as N1,500 to N2,000.
Many of the operatives look confused because one of their most important tools comes from a street seller rather than the Service, as one might expect.
It was an unbelievable sight that raised a basic question: why are immigration staff compelled to seek means of identification from street vendors, something that the service was supposed to issue them? This is more so as there is a biometric centre right inside the administrative building at the headquarters.
Shock, disbelief
The issue of staff of NIS getting ID cards for themselves from the streets is alarming and unbelievable to the extent that some security experts contacted to speak on the matter expressed disbelief, shock and refused to comment on the matter.
“Their headquarters in Sauka Abuja has a full-fledged human resource department that does ID cards for them. Immigration is one of the oldest paramilitary services that has adequate funding and cannot be said not to be able to print ID cards for staff.
“My friend, it is not true, it can’t be true, this is difficult to believe,” one of them who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons told The ICIR.
An official of the NIS, who wouldn’t want to be named for fear of victimisation, said that the issue of staff of a sensitive paramilitary organisation like the NIS getting their identity cards from the street is a worrisome trend that most of them are frustrated about.
According to the official, it has been like that since the tenure of the former Comptrollers-General Muhammed Babandede, who headed the service between 2016 – 2021, Isah Jere Idris, who was CG between 2021 – 2023, Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju who held the position until February 2024 and has continued with the current CG, Kemi Nanna Nandap, who took over in March 2024.
“ID card is not important to them. Anybody can walk in here or at the airport with a fake uniform and ID and claim to be an NIS officer. Imagine the risk involved,” the official stated.
A stolen vehicle at the NIS headquarters
The ICIR gathered that sometime in 2023, a man dressed in full uniforms bearing the rank of an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, stole a car at the NIS headquarters and escaped with it but was later caught at the point of selling the car. This was confirmed by a source in NIS.
“Things like that and even worse can only happen when staff are not properly identified. You don’t know who is who,” the source stated.
An ID cards serves as a means of identification. It usually, contains the name, picture, and other pertinent information of the bearer.
It also serves to validate one’s identity and demonstrate who one is and more often, it gives one permission to access restricted and non-restricted places. Besides, for a security agency like the NIS, an ID card is also a security document that bears the biometric data of the holder.
NIS ID cards for sale
Apart from the Mammy Market at the Immigration headquarters, The ICIR reporter also visited a business centre in the heart of Gwagwalada town in the FCT. The trip was in the company of an Immigration officer. The purpose was to confirm how easy it is to procure an NIS ID card.
“We arrived at a two-storey building in the heart of Gwagwalada. There, a man sitting in front of an old computer welcomed us like a groom welcoming his new bride and right in the presence of other customers, the NIS officer approached the vendor, negotiated for an ID card, paid and was told to pick up the new identity card the following day. The transaction was quick, effortless and was like a well-rehearsed routine”, the reporter stated.
“Na so we dey do am for here,” the officer said in pidgin English. “This one tey self, for the other place, na only 10 minutes,” the officer told the reporter on the way out.
“It’s a huge joke. Anyone can fake this card and pose as an immigration officer,” the officer said.
The reporter also visited the NIS FCT command at Gwagwalada. The journey took him to a small business shop using a big umbrella as a shade right in front of the FCT NIS command. The shop rests on the wall of the command.
“How much for an ID card?” the NIS officer asked the vendor. “Oga na N2,000” the vendor responded without asking any questions.
Then the negotiation started, and at the end of it, it was agreed that the NIS official would pay N2,000 and the card would be ready within a few hours after payment.
Back at the popular Mammy Market at the NIS headquarters in Abuja, amid the buying and selling going on, getting an immigration ID card is like buying the popular akara (bean cake) on the street of Abuja.
The ICIR reporter approached many vendors in the market asking to get an ID Card.
At all the shops visited, the only requirement needed to get an ID is a service number, uniform to take a passport photograph, genotype, rank and money ranging from N1,500 to N2,000.
In one of the shops visited, The ICIR reporter presented all the necessary information pretending to be a staff of the NIS in need of an Immigration ID card but didn’t go ahead with it when the vendor asked the reporter to take a photograph with NIS uniform.
“I didn’t come with my uniform. I left it at home. Is there a way out?” The ICIR reporter asked.
“You need your uniform sir, if it is not here, you can collect it from any of your colleagues,” the vendor advised.
“No, I will come again another day,” the reporter said.
The ICIR reporter noticed that in all the places visited, the vendors did not ask any critical questions to verify if the customer was a genuine NIS official before producing an ID card.
Although the source had stated that you do not need your uniform to get an ID card because the vendors have photos with uniform and rank on which they can match your portrait photo however the reporter noticed that most of the vendors contacted insisted on passport photograph taken with NIS uniform.
Other states not spared in the NIS ID card saga
The ICIR gathered that the situation at the NIS headquarters prevails in other states. A staff of the NIS based in Kano, North-West Nigeria who joined the paramilitary organisation in 2020 revealed that the Service has not issued them an ID card in the state command since joining. According to the staff, they are left with procuring identity card from the streets.
The staff who sought identity protection said, “I was just promoted so I needed a new ID card and the easiest place to get it is in the Mammy Market. It will cost me just N2,000,” he stated.
Another NIS staff based in Kwara State in a chat with The ICIR confirmed getting the ID card from a staff of the commission who produces ID cards for officers in bulk at his business centre in town.
“Don’t worry, I will introduce you to one of our officers here who normally gets it for us. It is N2,000 outside but he does his own for N1,500,” the officer told our reporter who presented as an NIS staff who needed an ID card.
In Bayelsa, an NIS officer told The ICIR that the state command produces ID cards for them at N3,000 per person. This is contrary to what the Public Relations Officer of the NIS, Kenneth Udo, claimed in a telephone chat on Wednesday, December 18.
According to Udo, service staff can obtain identity cards for free. “It is free, you can’t pay for an ID card. Not at all. It is free,” the NIS PRO stated.
In Akure, Ondo State, an immigration officer confirmed to The ICIR that senior officers from the command collect around N5,000 to issue them ID cards.
In Minna, Niger State, according to an immigration officer, the Mammy Market at the state command is the easiest place to get an identity card for N2,000.
In Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, an NIS officer told The ICIR that procuring an official ID card costs between N1,500 and N2,000, depending on your negotiating power.
A newly recruited officer of the NIS based in Enugu said the only option for getting an ID card is from the streets because authorities do not issue them to anyone.
“They didn’t give us any ID card, so we resorted to self-help which in my view is not the best,” the officer stated.
Implications
If immigration officers pay street vendors out of their pocket for essential documents such as an ID card, the implications can only be imagined considering the importance and sensitive nature of the service.
According to a security analyst, Emeka Okoro, some potential security implications of immigration officers procuring their ID cards from street vendors include the presence of fake immigration officers at the airport creating confusion which can lead officers to the danger of accepting phoney or counterfeit documents that could jeopardise national security and make them more susceptible to bribery and corruption thereby endangering border security.
“There will be lack of accountability because it will be difficult to trace and keep an eye on officer’s activity in the absence of uniform ID cards provided by the NIS. Misconduct and security breaches may result from this lack of accountability,” he opined.
He added that Nigeria’s border security is greatly aided by immigration officers so there may be threats to national security, such as the possibility of criminals or terrorists infiltrating the nation if they are not adequately outfitted with standardised identification cards.
Okoro said data breaches and lack of trust in the Service are other implications when immigration personnel procure their own ID cards themselves.
He added that ID cards from street vendors can lead them to produce them using false or stolen identities, which can undermine the immigration system and the nation at large.
He also observed that it can increase data compromise and loss of sensitive information because according to him, street vendors may not adhere to standard security protocols, as such it makes them vulnerable to security breaches.
Commenting further on the implications, a public affairs and security analyst, Senator Iroegbu, said it is a security risk and a glimpse of the rot in the system if NIS officials resort to street vendors for ID cards.
“This could also jeopardise the overall immigration processes and system including passport issuance and visa processing,” he stated.
NIS budget and the ID card unit
A critical analysis of the funds allocated to the NIS in the budget from the year 2018 to 2024 indicates a total of N8.15 billion for items relating to the construction and furnishing of an immigration data processing centre.
A visit to the section responsible for providing ID cards for staff at the administrative wing of the NIS technology building at the headquarters in Abuja in November 2024 shows that the place is just a mere ID card office in name.
An officer who went into the biometric data centre to get an ID card came out to inform The ICIR reporter that the officers in charge told him to come back in two weeks.
“They said I should come back in two weeks. That’s what they have been saying for months now. Of what use is the ICT office if they cannot produce an ordinary ID card for staff?” the angry official asked as he walked away from the reporter.
The NIS provides identity cards for its staff – Spokesperson
When The ICIR contacted the spokesperson of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), Juliet Okeh, she directed The ICIR to call the PRO of the NIS, Kenneth Udo.
“I don’t have authority to speak on that because it’s not under our purview. Ours is to recruit, promote and discipline erring officers. That one is their problem at the service. Reach out to the service PRO, she said.
The NIS spokesperson claimed there is a provision for ID cards for staff at the NIS.
“We are a security organisation, so if you hear that our people are getting their ID cards outside, that should tell you that it is not true. We have a system here that we churn out ID cards to our staff. How can you go and get an ID card outside? It makes no sense,” he stated.
According to him, there is an office responsible for providing identity cards for staff.
“It is for them to make themselves available and have their ID cards. As a security officer, how can you go and get it outside? That is something unheard of. They get it here. ID card is centralised. What they do is from time to time, they visit commands, take their biometrics, produce and send to them,” he said.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance