Millions of Nigerians still lack identity despite BVN growth, says Identy.io regional head
via Punch Nigeria3 min read
Dr. Olalekan Olasiyan, Regional Head of Biometrics for West Africa at Identy.io, has expressed concern over Nigeria's identity gap, noting that millions of citizens remain outside the digital identity ecosystem despite increasing Bank Verification Number BVN registrations. As of December 2025, BVN registrations reached 67.8 million, a 6.8 percent increase from 2024's 63.5 million. However, Olasiyan stated these figures do not cover Nigeria's entire adult population, leaving many, especially in rural and informal sectors, unidentified. This gap hinders access to financial services and digital opportunities, posing a challenge to Nigeria's digital economy ambitions. He emphasized that a robust digital economy relies on the ability to uniquely identify citizens, which is crucial for financial inclusion, service delivery, and economic participation. Olasiyan highlighted that weak identity coverage contributes to fraud losses, which surged to ₦52.26 billion in 2024 before declining to ₦25.85 billion in 2025 due to improved verification. He called for expanding identity infrastructure to underserved populations, including rural communities, women, and persons with disabilities, as exclusion from identity systems leads to exclusion from economic opportunities and affects public service delivery. While Nigeria's Digital Public Infrastructure, based on the National Identification Number, has enrolled over 121 million residents, reaching those in low-connectivity areas remains critical
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Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, announced that nationwide anti-crime operations conducted between June 9 and June 21, 2026, led to the arrest of 1,198 suspects for various offenses. These arrests included 151 for murder and culpable homicide, 117 for armed robbery, 151 for kidnapping, and 104 suspected cultists, with an additional 169 persons arrested for unlawful possession of firearms. The operations also resulted in the rescue of 166 kidnap victims, and the recovery of 166 assorted firearms, 1,475 rounds of ammunition, and 47 stolen vehicles. Disu highlighted the successful rescue of abducted students and teachers in Oyo State as an example of effective joint security operations, emphasizing collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces of Nigeria, other security agencies, and the public. He urged senior officers to maintain vigilance and adopt dynamic, threat-informed strategies, stressing that performance would be evaluated by security outcomes rather than the number of operations. Disu also called on citizens to continue sharing actionable information with law enforcement.
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