The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said Nigeria’s integrated identity management system led to the arrest of seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders who were returning from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage.
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Tunji-Ojo disclosed this on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after President Bola Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission Act 2026 into law.
The disclosure was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the minister, the suspects were arrested last Thursday at the Katsina airport after returning from Mecca and were subsequently handed over to the Department of State Services.
Tunji-Ojo said the arrests were made possible through the integration of the National Identity Management Commission database with the Nigeria Immigration Service database and its connection to Interpol.
“I know, sometime ago, the Senate President was alarmed by how some terrorists went on pilgrimage, wondering how they crossed our borders. We inherited a fractured system,” he said.
“But I’m happy to tell you that even last week, Thursday, seven of the known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP at the point of coming back from Mecca were arrested in Katsina at the airport and were handed over to the DSS.
“This is only possible because NIMC’s ID is already connected with the immigration database, and it’s already speaking to even the Interpol 24/7, and we have been able to automate this,” the minister added.
Tunji-Ojo said the newly signed NIMC Act would further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture by accelerating the harmonisation of identity databases and improving inter-agency collaboration.
He said the law would enhance the integrity of the National Identity Number system and improve the country’s capacity to combat identity theft, terrorism, financial crimes and other security threats.
The minister noted that before the current administration, Nigeria’s identity management systems were fragmented, with key services such as passport issuance and driver’s licence processing disconnected from the national identity database.
“When Mr President came on board, we had a disconnected system within our identity data management system. At that time, getting a passport and getting a driving permit were completely disconnected from our identity database,” he said.
“But today, you can’t get a Nigerian passport without pulling data from NIMC,” he added.
President Tinubu signed the NIMC Act 2026 on Friday in the presence of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, and other senior government officials.
The new law is expected to deepen the use of digital identity in national security, public service delivery and verification processes across government agencies.
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