Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) are set to investigate the alleged access to the data of registered Nigerians.

This was stated by the nation’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani via his X handle amid the report of a private website having a free course to the data of Nigerians.

The private website, XpressVerify.com, in a newly published report, was accused of having unrestricted access to the National Identification Numbers (NINs) and personal details of every registered Nigerian.

According to the report, the website has since monetised the recovery of NINs and personal information on the Nigerian identification database.

“Anybody can retrieve details such as phone numbers, full names, NIN, address, and photographs of any Nigerian whose data is on the National Identity Database with as low as N200.

“The website does not confirm what type of person can check what type of information. There were no restrictions to the number of NIN-related data that could be fetched when FIJ checked.

“Vendors across different Nigerian cities have been checking the NINs and phone numbers of citizens from the same database NIMC ought to maintain and keep secure,” the report said.

In response to the report, the Communications Minister clarified that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has ceased to be under the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.

He, however, vowed that the primary legal institution responsible for the identity management system and regulations of the identity sector will work closely with the nation’s data protection agency to probe the matter.

“NIMC is no longer under @FMCIDENigeria but our @ndpcngr will work with colleagues at @nimc_ng to investigate this immediately. Thanks for sharing,” Tijani stated.

In the wake of the development, the Nation reported that Namecheap Incorporated, the domain registrar through which the private website’s domain was purchased, indicated that it has now suspended the domain of the identity verification website. (The Nation)

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