Media sources report that although birth certificates are supposed to be free of
charge, applicants are being charged for birth certificates (The Guardian 11 Sept.
2019; ICIR 28 May 2019; The Punch 3 Nov. 2019). The Guardian, a Nigeria-based
newspaper (The Guardian n.d.), indicates that the fees charged "vary" depending on
the child's age and the "urgency" of the certificate; the cost is between NGN 500
[C$1.73] and NGN 1,000 for newborns, NGN 1,000 for children who are "months
old," NGN 1,500 for children under 10, and NGN 2,000 and above for children over
10 (The Guardian 11 Sept. 2019). The same source quotes a child protection
specialist with UNICEF as stating that due to lack of funding for birth registration,
"ad-hoc registrars," "non-permanent employees who are trained to perform
registration duties," have not been paid (The Guardian 11 Sept. 2019). The same
source cites "the Head of Department, Vital Registration, Department National
Population Commission, NPoPC Lagos State," as stating that registrars collect
money for birth registration and birth certificates to pay for work-related expenses
(The Guardian 11 Sept. 2019). A joint press release from the Progressive Impact
Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG), a Nigeria-based NGO
aiming to "promote good governance, accountability and transparency" (PRIMORG
n.d.), and the ICIR indicates that the "extortion of money by birth registration
officials" has "denied a large number" of birth registrations, which has resulted in
"more and more Nigerians [missing] opportunities such as scholarships, oversea[s]
trips, and admissions[,] among others, which require the submission of the birth
certificate" (PRIMORG and ICIR 9 Dec. 2019). The May 2019 ICIR article quotes a
director of research and capacity building at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, as
stating that "extortion" accounts for 20 percent of the problems of birth registration
and that the "'major problem is ignorance and the misunderstanding of the vital use
of birth registration. … Most people that get birth certificates do it when it becomes
an absolute necessity'" (ICIR 28 May 2019).
A blank sample of a live birth registration form, provided on the UNICEF website
profiling Nigeria's civil registration system, is attached to this Response
(Attachment 1).
2.2 Requirements and Procedures to Obtain an Attestation of
Birth
The NIDC cites Nigerian authorities as indicating that an applicant "must obtain a
declaration of age from the court" prior to applying for an attestation of birth at an
NPC registration centre (Denmark 26 Mar. 2019, 2). The same source cites
information provided by a "legal source" in November 2018 as stating that "[u]pon
issuance of the declaration of age[,] the applicant must get a sworn affidavit from
the Nigerian High Courts which is signed by a witness. The sworn affidavit is as
important as the declaration of age" (Denmark 26 Mar. 2019, 2). According to
information provided by a European Return Liaison Officer (EURLO) with the
Embassy of Finland in Abuja to the Swedish Migration Agency on 17 January 2019,
in response to an EASO query,
when an adult has lost his or her birth certificate, a new one can be issued (called
'Attestation letter'). In order to get this, 'the person has been interviewed and a
legalised Age Declaration Affidavit provided by the high court of Nigeria. A person
can be issued one Birth Certificate. Duplicates of each birth certificate are kept in
each state's liaison office.' (EU 24 Jan. 2019, 7)
The website of the NPC provides the following requirements to obtain an
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