Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has launched a fierce nationwide offensive against the sprawling network of fake insurance operators that has left millions of Nigerian motorists financially exposed and road accident victims without compensation. In a series of coordinated operations, the commission arrested dozens of suspects, seized mountains of counterfeit documents, and warned that a new era of direct prosecution has begun under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
NAICOM intensified its crackdown across the country on Thursday, May 14, 2026, arresting scores of individuals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) alone. The operation, executed in collaboration with police officers from the Divisional Police Headquarters, Mabuchi, also led to the seizure of computers, generators, fake vehicle number plates, and a massive cache of counterfeit third‑party insurance documents. “The exercise is a resolve of the commission to clamp down on fake insurance operators,” declared Dr. Talmiz Usman, NAICOM’s Director of Legal, Enforcement and Market Development.
The enforcement drive targeted syndicates operating brazenly near Vehicle Inspection Offices (VIOs) and motor registration centres, with the Mabuchi raid executed on businesses situated directly adjacent to a VIO office. THISDAY observed instances where a VIO official attempted to interfere with the arrests, raising allegations of potential collusion that NAICOM has vowed to investigate further.
For years, the proliferation of fake insurance policies has defeated the core purpose of compulsory third‑party motor insurance, which is designed to protect innocent road users from financial ruin after accidents, bodily injuries, or deaths. “But what do we get?” Usman lamented. “We ended up with people selling fake insurance all over the country. All they think about is that they have insurance which they can just show to law enforcement agencies when driving, and that defeats the objective of insurance”.
Many motorists, eager to evade law enforcement checks, purchase worthless certificates from unlicensed vendors operating in and around VIOs and licensing centres. “When there is a claim, there is nobody to pay because, one, you got the insurance from a non‑insurance company. Two, you are getting a fake cover that is nothing more than a worthless paper,” Usman warned.
Driving this unprecedented enforcement is the NIIRA 2025, recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu. The Act empowers NAICOM to prosecute offenders directly without routing cases through the Office of the Attorney‑General of the Federation, a major shift from the cumbersome previous legal regime where offences were treated strictly as criminal matters. “The beauty about the new law is that it empowers the Commission to prosecute the offenders,” Usman noted, stressing that it is now a criminal offence to sell fake insurance, with penalties that can include a ₦200,000 fine, one year imprisonment, or both for offenders.
NAICOM also reiterated that cooperatives, including the National Cooperative Insurance Society (NCIS), are not licensed insurance entities and have no legal authority to underwrite or sell Motor Third Party or any other compulsory insurance products. Dr. Usman emphatically stated that by law, “no cooperative is allowed to sell third party motor insurance. It’s illegal and it’s against the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act”. The Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) has joined the battle, adopting a “Zero Tolerance Mission” against unlicensed agents peddling cut‑rate policies that undermine the industry’s pricing structure.
NAICOM’s aggressive stance follows a high‑level meeting in Abuja between Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, and Inspector‑General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to strengthen collaboration on NIIRA implementation. “NAICOM cannot achieve full compliance and market discipline without strategic collaboration with enforcement agencies,” Omosehin stressed. In response, the IGP assured that the force would provide full operational and legal backing to ensure offenders are prosecuted.
As the commission vows to sustain this aggressive campaign nationwide, the public is urged to verify agents, check licenses on the NAICOM website, and report fraud. “This process is not going to stop only in Abuja. We are going to do it all over the country, and we are going to sustain it aggressively,” Usman declared.
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