Ibadan Residents Protest Compulsory Payment Of N5,000 For NIN

 Residents of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital have kicked against the imposition of N5,000 on them as fee for the registration for National Identification Number (NIN).

SaharaReporters gathered that residents pay between N4,000 and N5,000 to register for NIN in the state.

Some students who protested at the Iyaganku Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Thursday lamented that all the centres visited charge for registration.

Led by John Ocholi, a 300 level student of the University of Ibadan, who hails from Kogi State, the protesters said they were disturbed by the attitude of workers at NIN offices in Ibadan.

He said, "We have gone to almost five centres in Ibadan and all of them charge between N4,000 and N5,000 for enrolment for national Identity number. I am only disturbed because of many people who cannot afford to pay such money. 

"I am still wondering why the goverment insisted on national identity number for transacting all our businesses when they have no provision for production of the card."

A resident of Apata area of Ibadan, Adetayo Joel, told SaharaReporters that he paid N10,000 for himself and his wife before they could get it done at Challenge area of the ancient city.

"It is unreasonable but we had to do it because we needed it urgently. My wife and I paid N10,000 before we could do it. This thing is fraud and government officials know about the fraud. Are they saying they are not aware that their staff members are charging money for it?"

Another resident, Kemi Adeoye said many applicants at Dugbe centre almost beat up one of their workers for shutting down their system when the applicants refused to pay him.

"Those workers are criminals. Some students almost beat up one of their staff members in Dugbe on Wednesday. Government must stop this nonsense," she said.