NIMC DG admits NIN cannot trace kidnappers, explains why the system falls short

• The NIMC DG said kidnappers often use victims' phones, making NIN-based tracking difficult.

• She also suggested some kidnappers may not be enrolled in Nigeria's identity database.

• The commission maintained that the NIN is an identity system, not a standalone surveillance tool.

Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission has acknowledged a significant limitation in the country's flagship identity system, with its Director-General admitting that the National Identification Number is not always effective in tracking down kidnappers and terrorists.

Abisoye Coker-Odusote made the admission during an appearance on Channels Television, where she was asked to explain why criminals remain difficult to trace despite the mandatory NIN-SIM linkage policy.

Her explanation pointed to a simple but significant gap in the system.

"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.

By using their victims' devices, criminals effectively hide behind the registered identities of innocent people, rendering the NIN trail useless in those scenarios.

Coker-Odusote also raised the possibility that some kidnappers may not appear in Nigeria's identity database at all, suggesting that certain abductions are carried out by individuals brought into the country days before the crime specifically to execute it.

"There is a theory that it may be possible that these kidnappers are not Nigerians and are brought into the country 48 or 72 hours before a kidnapping takes place, specifically for that purpose. I'm not insinuating anything, but if that were the case, they naturally would not be captured in our database," she said.

She was careful to frame the claim as a theory rather than confirmed intelligence, but said it represented one of the scenarios her commission had considered.

She maintained that the NIN remains central to Nigeria's security architecture, but acknowledged that its effectiveness depends heavily on collaboration between security agencies, telecom operators and other institutions.

The Federal Government made NIN registration compulsory for all Nigerians and legal residents, tying it to SIM card activation, passport applications, bank account opening and access to several government programmes.

The policy was sold partly on the promise of improved security, with the idea that a traceable identity system would make it harder for criminals to operate anonymously.

Coker-Odusote's comments complicate that narrative, suggesting that determined criminals have found ways to work around a system that millions of Nigerians were compelled to enroll in.

NIMC has consistently maintained that the NIN is an identity management tool rather than a surveillance system, and that tracking criminals requires broader inter-agency coordination beyond what the commission can provide on its own.

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