Nigeria’s IMO State launches biometric registration catch-up campaign

Nigeria’s Imo State has the lowest proportion of citizens registered for the country’s national digital ID among Eastern states, and is launching a biometric registration drive to catch up to its neighbors.

Only 1.5 million out of the 5 million people living in Imo have a National Identity Number (NIN), and 80 percent of those registered live in urban areas, State Commissioner for Digital Economy Chimezie Amadi says, according to the Independent.

The Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government is working with the leaders of 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), which Daily Post reports has already trained staff for the exercise, to carry out registrations across the state.

Amadi said in a meeting of the authorities he expects enrollment posts to be set up over the next six months in local gathering places like markets, churches and schools. The hybrid biometric scanners that will be deployed can worth online or offline, avoiding potential connectivity challenges.

“The rural areas need support, and we are ready to work with you to achieve this shared goal for the benefit of Imo State,” said Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Ruby Emele, as quoted by the Post.

The devices, pictured in a photo from the meeting, appear to be FAP60 devices from UK-based manufacturer Technocrat. Similar-looking devices from Technocrat are being marketed in Nigeria for enrollment to the NIN and other programs, at a single-unit cost of 250,000 naira (approximately US$152).

Technocrat biometric devices feature fingerprint technology from Integrated Biometrics, like the FBI-certified Kojak 4-4-2 scanner.

The company has offices in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, according to its website.

On the back-end, NIMC recently contracted Idemia to upgrade the country’s biometric identification system so it can handle 250 million records and a million searches per day.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  identity management  |  National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)  |  National Identity Number (NIN)  |  Nigeria  |  Technocrat