Since 2011, Nigeria has spent about $630 million trying to build a functional national identity system. That year, the federal government under Goodluck Jonathan approved N30.66 billion to provide electronic ID cards to all Nigerians above the age of 18.
By 2019, the country secured a $433 million World Bank-backed grant supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union. The project’s goal was to register at least 148 million Nigerians by mid-2024 and strengthen the country’s identity management infrastructure.
So when FIJ uncovered XpressVerify in April 2024, a rogue website selling access to sensitive data of Nigerians for as little as N200 per search, it started a national conversation and caused agencies like the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the National Information Management Commission (NIMC) to take reactionary precautions.
The site had access to the national identity database despite having no official ties to NIMC, and it was using this access to make a profit illegally.
The backlash was swift. NIMC temporarily suspended all third-party access to the National Identity Database and later restored only what it called “essential service providers”.
NDPC launched an investigation and warned that NIMC, or any negligent agents, could face fines of up to N10 million or 2 per cent of their annual revenue. Early findings hinted that one of NIMC’s licensed agents as the likely source of the leak.
FOLLOW UP AND REVELATION
I decided to follow up in July. After all, Paradigm Initiative, a civil society group, had stated that XpressVerify was not an isolated case after FIJ’s story in 2024.
Out of curiosity and concern, I began to search for other websites offering NIN or BVN verification services. I didn’t expect to find much. Surely, after the XpressVerify scandal, all loopholes would have been sealed.
What I found instead was NINPrint.com.
NINPrint brands itself as a “digital identity and background check company” and offers a dizzying list of services. It claims to verify NINs using phone numbers, virtual NINs or document numbers.
It also promises BVN searches by name, date of birth, gender and phone number. It retrieves lost NINs using only tracking IDs. It validates bank accounts for immigration purposes and runs CAC and driver’s licence lookups.
By 2019, the country secured a $433 million World Bank-backed grant supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union. The project’s goal was to register at least 148 million Nigerians by mid-2024 and strengthen the country’s identity management infrastructure.
So when FIJ uncovered XpressVerify in April 2024, a rogue website selling access to sensitive data of Nigerians for as little as N200 per search, it started a national conversation and caused agencies like the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the National Information Management Commission (NIMC) to take reactionary precautions.
The site had access to the national identity database despite having no official ties to NIMC, and it was using this access to make a profit illegally.
The backlash was swift. NIMC temporarily suspended all third-party access to the National Identity Database and later restored only what it called “essential service providers”.
NDPC launched an investigation and warned that NIMC, or any negligent agents, could face fines of up to N10 million or 2 per cent of their annual revenue. Early findings hinted that one of NIMC’s licensed agents as the likely source of the leak.
FOLLOW UP AND REVELATION
I decided to follow up in July. After all, Paradigm Initiative, a civil society group, had stated that XpressVerify was not an isolated case after FIJ’s story in 2024.
Out of curiosity and concern, I began to search for other websites offering NIN or BVN verification services. I didn’t expect to find much. Surely, after the XpressVerify scandal, all loopholes would have been sealed.
What I found instead was NINPrint.com.
NINPrint brands itself as a “digital identity and background check company” and offers a dizzying list of services. It claims to verify NINs using phone numbers, virtual NINs or document numbers.
It also promises BVN searches by name, date of birth, gender and phone number. It retrieves lost NINs using only tracking IDs. It validates bank accounts for immigration purposes and runs CAC and driver’s licence lookups.
Since 2011, Nigeria has spent about $630 million trying to build a functional national identity system. That year, the federal government under Goodluck Jonathan approved N30.66 billion to provide electronic ID cards to all Nigerians above the age of 18.
By 2019, the country secured a $433 million World Bank-backed grant supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union. The project’s goal was to register at least 148 million Nigerians by mid-2024 and strengthen the country’s identity management infrastructure.
So when FIJ uncovered XpressVerify in April 2024, a rogue website selling access to sensitive data of Nigerians for as little as N200 per search, it started a national conversation and caused agencies like the National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and the National Information Management Commission (NIMC) to take reactionary precautions.
The site had access to the national identity database despite having no official ties to NIMC, and it was using this access to make a profit illegally.
The backlash was swift. NIMC temporarily suspended all third-party access to the National Identity Database and later restored only what it called “essential service providers”.
NDPC launched an investigation and warned that NIMC, or any negligent agents, could face fines of up to N10 million or 2 per cent of their annual revenue. Early findings hinted that one of NIMC’s licensed agents as the likely source of the leak.
FOLLOW UP AND REVELATION
I decided to follow up in July. After all, Paradigm Initiative, a civil society group, had stated that XpressVerify was not an isolated case after FIJ’s story in 2024.
Out of curiosity and concern, I began to search for other websites offering NIN or BVN verification services. I didn’t expect to find much. Surely, after the XpressVerify scandal, all loopholes would have been sealed.
What I found instead was NINPrint.com.
NINPrint brands itself as a “digital identity and background check company” and offers a dizzying list of services. It claims to verify NINs using phone numbers, virtual NINs or document numbers.
It also promises BVN searches by name, date of birth, gender and phone number. It retrieves lost NINs using only tracking IDs. It validates bank accounts for immigration purposes and runs CAC and driver’s licence lookups.
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