Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, has described how seven Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders were apprehended last week at Katsina Airport while returning from a Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Tunji-Ojo credited the arrests to the integration of the NIMC’s identity database with the Nigeria Immigration Service and foreign law enforcement networks.
The minister revealed this on Friday, when President Bola Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law.
According to the federal government, the signing would strengthen Nigeria’s identity management system, increase national security, improve public service delivery, and accelerate the country’s digital transformation.
Speaking following the signing, the minister of interior praised the new law as a significant step forward in the federal government’s ongoing reforms of Nigeria’s identity management framework.
Tunji-Ojo stated that the act would increase inter-agency collaboration, the integrity of the National Identification Number (NIN) system, and the country’s ability to tackle terrorism, identity theft, financial crimes, and other security threats.
He stated that the integration of the NIMC database with other government identity platforms had already resulted in security advantages, such as the recent arrest of suspected terrorists.
According to Tunji-Ojo, “We inherited a fractured system. But I’m happy to tell you that even last week, seven known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP, at the point of returning from Mecca, were arrested at Katsina Airport and handed over to the Department of State Services, DSS.
“This was possible because the NIMC database is now connected with the immigration database and also interfaces with Interpol’s systems on a 24-hour basis,” he added.
The minister noted that prior to the revisions, government identity systems operated independently, making accurate identity verification impossible.
“When President Tinubu assumed office, we had disconnected identity management systems. Today, you cannot obtain a Nigerian passport without verification through the NIMC database,” he said.
