THE Federal Government said it had commenced investigation into the alleged breach of data of Nigerians domiciled at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of Nigeria, Bosun Tijani disclosed this in a statement via his X handle on Wednesday.
According to the minister, the NIMC and National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) had commenced a probe into the matter.
Recall that Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise, had, on Thursday, sounded the alarm over an alleged sale of National Identification Numbers (NINs), Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), and other personal data of Nigerians on a website for as low as N100.
The organisation claimed that a popular website was found to be involved in the commercial distribution of personal and private data of Nigerians.
Reacting to the development, the NIMC spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, on Sunday, assured Nigerians that their data weren’t compromised.
However, a Senior Manager at Paradigm Initiative, Adeboye Adegoke, on a Channels Television’s “The Morning Show,” said the minister’s data was bought for N100 on certain websites.
Reacting, Tijani said he had engaged his colleague in the Ministry of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on the development, adding that they were on top of the matter.
Tijani said, “Second, the NDPC, a year old agency under my supervision as minister, has over the last few months created data compliance mechanisms for all MDAs and has since started a thorough investigation as to the circumstances surrounding this alleged breach.”
