By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
Deltans are groaning in the hands of suspected middlemen claiming to be officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), who allegedly rip money off unwary residents of Warri in the process of being registered or making corrections in their National Identification Number (NIN).
Stonix News gathered from one Joy Orien, who nearly fell victim of the swindle, that several unsuspecting persons who had sought to effect one correction or the other in their NIN had been defrauded in the process.
Orien, while confiding in our reporter on Tuesday, said the suspected NIMC officials allegedly swindle people of their hard-earned money by hiking fees on NIN rectification processes like correction of Date of Birth and Change of Name, among others.
Miss Orien said she visited the NIMC office on Monday, July 26, 2022, at No. 10, Swamp Road, Off Robert Road, Off Okere Ogberi-Koko Road in Warri South Local Government Area of the state to effect a change in her date of birth.
Narrating her ordeal in the hands of the men, Joy, an undergraduate, said she had an incorrect date of birth issue with her bank and was told to visit NIMC office for corrections before she could access her account.
She said she got there, only for her to be charged N70,000 for the process which should ordinarily cost just N15,000 as copiously stated in the NIMC website.
“As I wanted to enter the NIMC office, one Morrison Tsebi called me and asked what I wanted to do.
“Since I saw that he and one other man were registering three other people outside the NIMC premises, I gave them attention.
“I told him about the issue I’m having with my bank as a result of incorrect date of birth and they told me that to correct the date of birth in my National Identification Number in the NIMC portal, I would have to pay N70,000 that is, N35,000 for each year error.
“According to him, since there are two years disparities in the date of birth, I will have to pay N35,000 each which amounted to N70,000, but because I’m lamenting of not having enough money, I should pay N60,000.”
In a voice note she recorded and presented to Stonix News, Mr. Morrison Tsebi was heard saying, “The amount to change your phone number is N35,000, but we can negotiate it that’s why I gave you my number so that you can call me.
“My name is Morrison. When you are ready, just come with your NIN and the change will be effected.”
She added that after meeting with Mr. Tsebi and his partner, she went into the NIMC office and met another man who promised to effect the correction for N50,000 only.
After explaining to him of how insolvent she was, the man directed her to one Mr. Ijei Victor Emeka who then told her the official price was N15, 000!
A call put to Mr Ijei’s mobile line by Stonix News to confirm incident was not responded to.
Meanwhile, our reporter on Tuesday went on an undercover investigation to the NIMC office and met Mr Tsebi and another man in front of the office.
It was discovered that all the claims presented by Orien, our informant, were true.
The interaction our reporter had with the two suspected middlemen portrayed them as casual NIMC officials.
But they corroborated their authenticity as NIMC staff not with their identity cards, but with temporary NIN slips of clients they had earlier attended to on Monday and Tuesday.
They further insisted on the payment of N70,000 to effect the changes Orien had approached them for.
Meanwhile, Mr Ijei, who had earlier told our informant that the official amount for change of date of birth was N15,000, further corroborated it.
NIMC official NIN rates on website
He, however, didn’t comment on the disparity between the official price of N15,000 and the N70,000 being requested by Mr Tsebi and his colleague.
Investigation carried out by Stonix News on the official website of NIMC, www.nimc.gov.ng, revealed that the actual fee attached to correcting errors in date of birth is N15,000 which corroborated Mr Ijei’s position.
Other modifications other than date of birth attract just N500 while enrollment and issuance of slip (first instance) costs N500.
Card reissuance and activation goes for N5,000, reissuance of PIN for issued card costs N1,000, NIN slip reissuance, N500, while request for written certification/confirmation of identity (inclusive of delivery through courier within Nigeria) costs N30,000 – which is the highest fee sighted.
Stonix News, however, gathered that with the subterranean activities of middlemen or officials at the NIMC office in Warri, Deltans are made to part with as high as N5,000 for fresh registration which should ordinarily be free.
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