Men of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested three persons suspected to be engaged in National Identity Number (NIN) racketeering in Port Harcourt.
The suspects were nabbed by a team of policemen at the entrance of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) along Aba Road in the state capital on Wednesday afternoon.
The operatives numbering about four arrived in the area in a blue-colour private salon car, had highlighted from their vehicle, and swooped on the roadside acclaimed agents.
The raid followed complaints about the activities of the suspects who posed as agents of the federal agency unknown to the public that they had ulterior motives.
Some of the roadside acclaimed agents who were seen at the entrance of the commission on Thursday claim that they sell NIN registration forms due to lack of employment.
It was gathered that those arrested were pleading with the police to allow them to operate.
Meanwhile, a source at the Port Harcourt NIMC office who spoke on condition of anonymity said the men usually come there on a daily basis posing as agents, saying sometimes they swindle unsuspecting members of the public visiting the facility.
He stated, “You know this is a federal government office and people come here to either obtain a NIN or verify theirs and other things.
“You see this group of young men that hang around here constituting nuisance and claiming to be agents when nobody sent them to do what they are doing.
“They corner the people who come to our office and promise to assist them with whatever they want. Sometimes they even tell them that they are the genuine staff of NIMC and collect money from them.”
Continuing, he said, “We have chased them and asked them not to hang around our gate, but they always come back. There was a time when the police came and arrested some of them. After some days they were back.”
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, proved abortive as her mobile was not connected.
Also, she had yet to reply to a text message sent to her as of the time of filing this report on Thursday afternoon.
