09/09/2026
The NIRA Scam Movie Gets Another Sequel: The WALL OF SHAME
Just when you thought the NIRA scam movie had run out of characters, another cast has entered the stage. And this time, the plot is getting thicker.
Following a string of operations against people suspected of impersonating NIRA staff and extorting members of the public at NIRA service points, the Authority has intensified its surveillance. Turning its own offices into something of a hunting ground for fraudsters who have mistaken wananchi’s desperation for an opportunity to make quick bucks.
The latest episodes have produced characters who, if this were a Nollywood production, would probably have been introduced with ominous background music. That’s always played whenever Mr. Ibu is fomenting brouhaha.
One suspect, a young man in his early twenties, was allegedly caught carrying Local Council letters with ‘DISO stamps’ and other documents purportedly useful in supporting applications for National Identification Cards.
In the hands of a legitimate officer, such documents may have a lawful purpose.
In the hands of someone masquerading as a NIRA official, however, they raise a very different question: What exactly was he scheming do? The sleuths were not waiting for the answer before gently admitting him to the coolers.
Then came another scene; perhaps the most bizarre of the latest episodes.
A middle-aged man allegedly caught receiving an undisclosed amount of money from an unsuspecting woman whom he had reportedly promised to help obtain her National ID card.
At first glance, the arrangement may have sounded convincing. Until one small detail refused to fit into the sinister script, from the man whose shiny sweaty head needed some wiping.
So, naturally, one question begged to be asked:
How was he planning to help someone else obtain a card when he was standing in the same queue waiting for his own?
That is where the smell of suspicion began to rise.
At this point his slightly protruding potbelly had started spewing some sweat-like one scheming how to evade The Potbelly Theory Convention.
As the African proverb reminds us, the man who sleeps with an itchy something may wake up with smelly fingers. The alleged “helper” had apparently underestimated the woman standing before him.
Rather than surrender her money and walk away quietly, the woman became suspicious, and discreetly alerted NIRA’s surveillance team of officers who had already slipped into the crowd. They were observing the proceedings like, the Nile crocs lying motionless until a target steps close to striking range.
The trap was sprung. And just like that, the hunter became the hunted.
And according to the NIRA surveillance team leading the operation, this is only the beginning.
The scam movie may have new actors.
It may have new costumes.It may even have new scripts. But the ending is beginning to look remarkably familiar.
The smooth talker discovers that NIRA’s queue has another line; the one leading to police and to The WALL OF SHAME
Members of the public are encouraged to access NIRA services on toll free 0800 211 700, USSD *216 #, on social media platforms or attend the (24-26 Sept at Kololo Airstrip), to have a face to face engagement with NIRA management.
