Mobile subscribers trying to complete SIM swaps across the country have been unable to do so due to the unavailability of the National Identity Management Commission’s NIN Verification Service (NVS). Responding to complaints from users, MTN Nigeria said the “NIMC application is currently unavailable. “Please bear with us as we are unable to process sim swap and upgrade requests at the moment. Feedback will be shared as soon as the issue is resolved. Apologies for the inconvenience this may cause you.” However, in a statement obtained by Channels Television on Monday, NIMC spokesperson Kayode Adegoke said “No one should be debarred of any service on the guise of NIN not being verified.” “Even though the NIN verification service (NVS) might be down due to maintenance by one of our service providers of its infrastructure, the alternative platform – TOKENISATION is up and running,” the spokesperson said. “There is the need to ask questions from the Telcos, NIS, Banks and others on the reason for turning down customers in the guise of NIN not being verified due to the temporary unavailability of the NVS, while the alternative platform- Tokenization is working!!! “NIMC NVS platform is not the only verification platform available for use, but Tokenisation which protects the identity of NIN holders is also up and running!!! “And for accurate information, it is not a NIMC problem, rather, a government service provider has embarked on maintenance of its infrastructure, which has affected most government agencies that rely on it for the provision of IT service. But for us in NIMC, the TOKENIZATION is available for the verification of the NIN before rendering services.” ‘Temporarily Unavailable’ In a statement on Saturday, the NIMC had confirmed the problem, which it attributed to ongoing maintenance. “The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) wishes to inform the general public that its NIN verification Service (NVS) is temporarily unavailable due to the maintenance service being carried out by one of the Commission’s network service providers,” the statement said. “The NIMC wants to assure the public that verification and authentication services would be restored once the maintenance is concluded. “The Commission apologises for any inconvenience this might cause our esteemed customers, as all hands are on deck to ensure speedy restoration. “Meanwhile, the public can make use of the alternative Tokenisation verification platform.” ‘Loss of trust’ The affected NIMC portal allows third parties to confirm the identity of customers. Apart from telecoms firms, financial institutions and government agencies also rely on the service. “The biggest implication is the loss of trust,” said technology analyst Fred Agbata. “People who depend on things manually are told technology is a better option, but then downtimes can make their lives more miserable.” Agbata also noted that the NIMC downtime should lead to questions about how safe the system is in protecting the information of millions of Nigerians. Last month a hacker identified as Sam claimed he had found a bug on the NIMC server that could be used breach the system. The NIMC at the time debunked the hacker’s claims. “Over the years, through painstaking efforts, NIMC has built a robust and credible system for Nigeria’s identity database,” a spokesperson said. NIN-SIM linkage The linkage of NINs and SIMs was mandated by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as part of efforts to build a cohesive national database. Although the process was hampered by long queues and massive crowds amid COVID-19 restrictions, forcing the government to serially extend the deadline for the linkage, the NIMC has said it is committed to its mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria. All other forms of identity management, including the Bank Verification Number (BVN), are expected to be lined to the NIN.

  Chief Yomi Alliyu, SAN, counsel to Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly called Sunday Igboho, on Monday, disclosed that the Beninese Government has concluded plans to renew Igboho’s incarceration by another six months. Alliyu noted that though there are no criminal charges or extradition request against Igboho, the Beninese Government has, however, taken steps to keep Igboho in detention. He said: “Contrary to what was speculated in the news by a lawyer, the government of Benin Republic has renewed the incarceration of Chief Sunday Adeyemo for another six months even though there is no charge in there file in Cotonou and without extradition request from Nigeria.” Igboho was arrested on Monday, July 19, 2021, by the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, the Republic of Benin on his way to Germany. He had apparently fled Nigeria after a bloody raid on his Soka residence in Ibadan, Oyo State by the Department of State Service (DSS) which accused him of stockpiling arms. The following Thursday, July 21, he was arraigned before the Cour D’Appel De Cotonou which adjourned the case till the following Monday when it further adjourned indefinitely on the grounds that it was investigating the case against the activist. The court ordered that he should be remanded in a facility in the country pending the conclusion of the investigation.

  There was pandemonium in Mab Global Estate in the Gwarinpa area of the Federal Capital Territory as over 40 suspected internet fraudsters ‘Yahoo Boys’ attempted to breach the estate security on Friday night. This is coming less than 24 hours after two military officers were arrested for harassing civilian security men in the Estate. According to eyewitnesses, the suspected internet fraudsters, known in local parlance as Yahoo boys all dressed in white, attempted to gain entrance into the estate around 11:45 pm but were prevented by the combined team of security personnel at the gate. They could not provide the requisite information on the particular house number that was expecting them, hence the estate security turned them back. However, they returned strong in a convoy of 15 cars, carrying over 40 people in white around 2:30 am A security personnel said they became aggressive as they attempted to forcibly penetrate the estate. The suspected internet fraudsters and ritual killers most of who were hanging leather bags suspected to be holding dangerous weapons insisted that they were going to attend a birthday party at plot 312 Gold Street. Curiously, the particular residence is in the vicinity of the Embassy of the Democratic Arab Republic located within the estate. The security men were adamant in their resistance saying 312 was a private residence and not a commercial apartment building. But the suspected fraudsters insisted that the gate must be opened even as they started a struggle with the civilian security men, An agitated chief security officer of the estate, Mr Denis Omala, had to call in all his men numbering over 50 to prevent them from breaching the peace of the estate. One of the executive members of the estate had to rush to the gate late in the night to ensure that the young men were turned back as their intentions were not known. He urged the residents to be more vigilant because of the recurrent attempt to breach the security of the estate lately.

  The Federal Government’s school feeding programme is collapsing with food vendors no more turning up in schools, The PUNCH has learnt. Findings by our correspondents in Benue, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Enugu, Bauchi and Kano states showed that vendors because of non-payment of their funds had stopped providing food in the schools. In some states, teachers and pupils told The PUNCH that when the programme was in operation, it was epileptic with few of the schoolchildren getting food when the vendors turned up. Our correspondent, who visited some schools in Makurdi, the Benue State capital city, gathered that since the beginning of second term in January, the programme had not resumed. A primary four pupil of the LGEA Primary School at Idemekpe, Makurdi, Terry Orduen said that throughout 2021, the schoolchildren were fed for three days. “Since the inception of this second term we have yet to see the cooks in our school. In 2021, we were fed for three days,” he added. Corroborating the pupil, a teacher at the LGEA Primary School at Wuruku, who spoke on condition of anonmity, asked if the programme still existed. “Is the programme still on? For the past few months, I have not seen the cooks in this school. I cannot remember if our children were fed last term, “the teacher said. But some of the food vendors said that they had yet to be paid for second term. One of them who identified himself as Agbo attributed their inability to feed the pupils to the Federal Government’s default in the payment of their funds. She stated, “We have been following up on why we have not been paid and why the contractors supplying us the items failed to do so. “They have made us undergo revalidation and we have completed the process, and what we are waiting is the release of funds so that we can start feeding the children.” The state Focal Person, Dr Damsa Terries, however debunked the claim by food vendors that they being owed. He added, “Cooks do not use their money to cook. The Federal Government gives them money first so it is not possible for cooks to say they are being owed. “You don’t cook when money has not been given. It is when you get alert in your account that you know number of pupil’s you are going to feed.” In Enugu State, the programme stopped in November 2021, findings by one of our correspondents revealed. The correspondent, who visited some schools in the state capital, learnt that the children were fed only three months in the whole of 2021. Some of the schools visited within the state capital include Emene Practicing Schools 1, 2, 3 & 4 in the Enugu East local Government Area. Other schools visited are Construction Primary School, Asata in the Enugu North Local Government Area and Idaw River Primary Schools 1, 2, 3 & 4 in the Enugu South Local Government Area. A head teacher in one of the schools, Mrs Christiana Ogene, told our correspondent that since November 2021, middle of first team she had not seen the contractors. “When I called one of the food vendors, she told me that she had not been paid and unless she was paid, she could not cook.” One of the contractors, Mrs Ndidi Ikenta told The PUNCH that she was only paid for three months in 2021. She stated, “They (Government) usually pay us every month to cook for the children but in 2021 they only paid me for three months. The last time they paid me was in November 2021 and when, the money finished I stopped. “They pay me N100,400.00 to feed the children from one month and the money was not even enough considering the high rate of inflation in the country.” A staff member of the state Universal Basic Education Board, who spoke to The PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said although the programme was still ongoing, it was not being implemented effectively. He said that while some schools were getting the meal, which is supposed to be given to the pupils once daily, others schools hardly got the meal in time and the food did go round most of the time. “For example the cooks hardly bring enough food. The food is always inadequate to serve the number of pupils in the school. “The food is always inadequate and when you ask the cooks they will not give you satisfactory answer as to where the problem is,” he said. He said lack of proper supervision and monitoring was among the problems bedevilling implementation of the programme and called on both the state and the Federal Government to come up with effective mechanism with a view to checking the excesses of contractors and cooks. Effort to speak to some teachers by our reporter who visited, Dandutse and Giginyu primary schools in Kano metropolis proved abortive as they declined to comment on the programme for fear of being victimised for speaking to journalists. The school feeding programme in Cross River State has also suffered a setback due to lack of funds. A vendor, who confided in The PUNCH, said the programme was “very epileptic. They are not releasing funds. Even when they release the funds, they divide it into two. For instance, throughout this term, they have not made funds available. Last term it was only once. “The population of a school determines what is paid to vendors. Some receive N100,000, some N80,000, some N120,000.” He alleged that the money was usually slashed by half, adding that he received N60,000 instead of N120,000.”The programme is almost dying. At times they give us a crate of eggs and a chicken for a whole term,” he said. Another vendor in Obudu said he collected N40,000. He said he collected the amount twice last year. Reacting, the Coordinator of the programme in Cross River, Gabe Okulaja, said funds had not been released this term.”Abuja has not released funds