We bought NIN slips of Bosun Tijani, NITDA boss for N100 each — Paradigm Initiative

Gbenga Sesan, the executive director of Paradigm Initiative, has revealed that the NIN slips of Bosun Tijani and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, for just N100 each.

In an interview on News Central TV on Monday, June 24, 2024, Gbenga said there had been another data breach concerning the National Identification Number (NIN) slips.

He said that Expressverify, the service involved in the merge, was previously reported for its involvement in the breach.

Sesan expressed gratitude to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and mentioned that the Data Protection Commission had been informed about the breach.

He expressed disappointment in the response, stating, “I’m not surprised that NIMC got a slap on the wrist, which means they were willing to look away again.”

Subsequently, Expressverify went offline, followed by Ennyverify.com.ng. Sesan highlighted that Ennyverify going offline again was due to the increasing public awareness about the issue.

NIMC’s press statement attempted to shift the blame away from Nigerian citizens, claiming that the issue was not with them.

Sesan criticised this statement, calling it “silly” and pointing out that the data breach involved NIMC’s own data, not that of Nigerian citizens.

He emphasised the seriousness of the situation by demonstrating that they were able to obtain the NIN slips of high-profile individuals, such as the Minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani, and the NITDA boss, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, for a minimal fee to underscore the vulnerability of the system.

He said, ”It’s not just that there’s a small breach; it’s that there’s another data breach. Expressverify was the one involved in the merge, and we reported that.

“Thanks to FIJ, we reported this to the data protection commission. I’m not surprised that NIMC got a slap on the wrist, which, of course, means they were willing to look away again.

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“Now, Expressverify went offline, and now Ennyverify.com.ng is also offline. And guess what? That’s not the only one.

“Ennyverify is now offline again because there is a lot of noise about it.

“In their press statement, NIMC tied its own hands by acknowledging that there are many websites, and claiming that the problem is not with Nigerian citizens.

“That press statement is at least silly, because it suggests that Nigerians are giving their own data to these false or fake websites. But no, this is NIMC’s data, and we now have proof.

“We obtained the NIN slip of the Minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani, and the NIN slip of Nigeria’s number one data regulator, Dr. Vincent Olatunji. We bought them for N100 each to demonstrate that this is not a joke.”