NIMC captures 300,000 people in Nasarawa State

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says it has captured no fewer than 300,000 people out of two million people population in Nasarawa State.

Mr Ibrahim Ategba, the head of coordination of local government at the NIMC announced the figure to newsmen on Thursday in Lafia.

He noted that the state had the lowest number of enrollment for the National Identification Number (NIN) in the North-Central Zone.

He, therefore, urged the people to visit the NIMC’s registration points both at the local government and the state offices in Lafia for capturing.

He said that the NIN being generated upon enrollment was a necessary first step and encouraged people to get the NIN.

According to Ategba, the Central Bank of Nigeria had directed commercial banks to start accepting the NIN for official identification.

He, however, said very soon people might not be able to carry out banking transactions without the National Identity Card.

Ategba said there was a lot of application imbedded that could be used with the card in the near future.

He said the card could also be used in an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or in an electronic voting system.

“Out of the country’s projected population of more than 170 million, only about 20 million have been registered in our data base,’’ he said.

Ategba said that all those who misplaced their NIN’s slip could go to any NIMC’s outlets to get a reprint at a token.