National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has explained why kidnappers and terrorists often remain difficult to trace despite Nigeria’s expanding digital identity infrastructure and the mandatory National Identification Number (NIN)-SIM linkage policy.
Director-General of NIMC, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said criminals frequently evade detection by using the mobile phones of their victims rather than their own registered SIM cards.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Coker-Odusote said the practice significantly limits the effectiveness of identity-based tracking systems.
“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.
Responding to questions on why criminals remain difficult to identify despite the NIN-SIM linkage exercise, she noted that while the National Identification Number serves as the country’s foundational identity framework, it cannot directly identify criminals who avoid using registered devices.
She also suggested that some kidnappers may not even be captured in Nigeria’s identity database.
“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.
Her comments have renewed debate over the expectations placed on the NIN-SIM linkage policy and its role in combating crime.
The NIN-SIM linkage exercise, introduced by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in collaboration with NIMC, was designed to strengthen identity management, eliminate anonymous SIM ownership and support national security.
The initiative has led to millions of mobile subscribers linking their SIM cards with their National Identification Numbers, while telecommunications operators have disconnected millions of unlinked lines in compliance with regulatory directives.
The NCC has consistently stated that the policy is intended to improve the integrity of Nigeria’s SIM registration database, enhance identity verification and assist security agencies in criminal investigations as part of the country’s broader digital economy and national security strategy.
Telecommunications operators have also maintained that although they are responsible for implementing the NIN-SIM linkage policy, the responsibility for tracking and apprehending criminals rests with security agencies.
