The Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has explained why kidnappers and terrorists may still evade detection despite the integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) into Nigeria’s security system.
Coker-Odusote said criminal groups often frustrate tracking efforts by using mobile phones and SIM cards belonging to their victims instead of lines registered in their own names.
She spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
The NIMC boss said the NIN remained the foundation of Nigeria’s identity and security infrastructure but noted that criminals had developed methods of concealing their identities.
Coker-Odusote said, “We already know the NIN is the foundational identity for the security architecture, but 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?”
According to her, the use of victims’ devices and registered SIM cards makes it difficult for investigators to immediately establish the true identities of those behind abductions.
