Workers handling the registration of national identity numbers in Delta State have resorted to extorting prospective registrants as they charged between N3,000 and N5,000 for the enrolment form which is supposed to be free.
SaharaReporters learned that hundreds of applicants who besieged the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) office at Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State were asked to pay to get the forms which are being hoarded by the commission’s staff.
At Effurun, our correspondent who monitored the exercise on Wednesday at the council secretariat observed that the forms were available as expected because the staff hoarded the enrolment forms to sell to desperate applicants.
A registrant told SaharaReporters that the extortion was being coordinated by the manager of the NIMC in the area, adding that those who could not afford N3,000 or N5,000 were treated with disdain.
“Officials of the National Identity Management Commission are making a hell of money from this illegal sale of the forms to applicants,” the source said. “Those of us who cannot part with anything are being treated without respect as if we are slaves. But those who paid are treated like kings and queens.
“Do you know that here we are, we saw an officer of the commission receiving N40, 000 from a lady and she was handed a bunch of the enrolment forms. We noticed that the lady came with her entire family members who were tired of waiting on the queue to collect the form. We also saw that the commission’s officials are working hand in hand with some of the illicit business council officials.
“In some cases, some officials of the Uvwie council in connivance with the commission’s officials collect between N9,000 and N10,000 from desperate applicants who are not ready to wait for the enrolment of applicants. In Nigeria, nothing goes for nothing, and it isn’t good. You will be surprised that at the end of the day monies are remitted to some top-ranking officials of the commission,” the applicant said.
NIMC staff at the local government declined to comment on the sharp practices.
