Interpol grants EFCC, ICPC, others access to its database

• NIMC denies losing NIN records of 7.9m Nigerians

In a strategic move to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has granted the nation’s security and relevant agencies access to its database for effective profiling of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and suspects of money laundering and illicit financial flows.

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, disclosed this at the end of a meeting between heads of Nigerian law enforcement agencies and officials of Interpol in Lyon, France.

The Nigerian delegation comprise representatives of National Central Bureau Abuja (NCBA), Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the ICPC.

Highpoint of the gathering was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) backing the symbiotic information sharing.
ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, in a statement, yesterday, quoted Owasanoye as saying: “The commission will develop the habit of issuing notices, especially on high profile suspects. Such notices will be seen globally on PEPs in particular.”

IN the meantime, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has refuted claim that it had lost the National Identification Number (NIN) records of 7.9 million Nigerians.

The rebuttal was contained in a statement signed by Head, Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke. The organisation reassured Nigerians that its database remains intact and impenetrable.

Already, the 11-digit unique NIN issued by the commission rose from 80 million in April to 82.7 million in May. NIMC statistics revealed that Lagos leads the pack with 9.48 million, followed by Kano’s 6.9 million and Kaduna, 4.9 million. Others include Ogun, 3.4 million; Oyo, 3.3 million; FCT, three million; Katsina, 2.6 million; Rivers, 2.5 million; Delta, 2.2 million and Niger, 2.1 million.

The identity body said 46.5 million NINs had been collected by men, while the women folk took hold of 31.2 million as at May.
According to the commission, the 10 states with lowest issued NINs are Akwa Ibom, 1.46 million; Imo, 1.4 million; Enugu, 1.36 million; Zamfara, 1.3 million; Yobe, 1.2 million and Taraba, 1.2 million.

The rest are Cross River, 935,544; Ekiti, 915,982; Ebonyi, 670,403 and Bayelsa, 541,516. Diaspora NINs hit 176,892, where 98,762 were issued to men and 78,133 to women.

Regionally, North West has 25.68 per cent; South West, 24.9 per cent; North Central, 16.7 per cent; North East 12.31 per cent and South East, 6.48 per cent.