The National Population Commission has revealed plans to insure ad hoc workers, who will serve as enumerators for next month’s census amid the resurgence of insecurity in different parts of the country.

The census is planned for May 3 to May 5. Despite assurances from the commission, the resurgence of kidnapping, banditry and killings in many parts of the country is posing a challenge to the headcount, leading to calls in some quarters for the postponement of the exercise.

For instance, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday called on the Federal Government to postpone the census until all internally displaced persons return to their communities.

Ortom made the call when he received a delegation from the Middle Belt Forum led by its President, Dr Bitrus Pogu, in his office in Makurdi.

The governor explained that his call for a postponement was hinged on the huge number of indigenes of the state who were still in IDP camps and who might not be counted because they needed to be in their communities before they could participate in the exercise.

He had said, “I want to say that the Federal Government should suspend the issue of the census because it looks like the proposed census is coming with an agenda.

“The census should be suspended until the Federal Government is able to restore security and all our IDPs go back to their ancestral lands to give all of them opportunities to be counted in their homes of birth.

“I understand from the National Population Commission that those to be counted must be counted in their localities.”

While decrying the sustained attacks on Benue communities by herdsmen, he said more than 6,000 persons had died and property worth billions of naira destroyed.

“In Benue State alone, we have lost over 6,000 people. In the last few days alone, over 131 persons were killed and we are still counting, because others are in the hospital,” he stated.

Similarly, Pogu urged the Federal Government to suspend the census because he believed that the exercise “was coming with a hidden agenda.”

But responding to the call for the postponement of the census, the NPC had said it was ready for the exercise, adding that people in the IDP camps would be counted.

The NPC spokesman, Isiaka Yahaya, said the commission was prepared for the exercise scheduled to start on May 3.

Yahaya stated “It (the concern about the IDPs) is a misunderstanding of the census process. The fact that the IDPs are not in their states does not mean that they will not be counted. Wherever they are, as long as the camp is demarcated, they will be counted.

“But then, there is a provision for their usual place of residence. They are not going to lose anything as IDPs, particularly if they are in Nigeria. In any case, most of the Benue IDPs are in Benue State.

“The NPC is prepared for the census. We are working round the clock to ensure that all possible hitches are removed and that all the personnel and equipment to be used during the census are in proper shape.”

In a separate interview with Sunday PUNCH, Yahaya confirmed that there would be insurance cover for all the 800,000 ad hoc workers of the NPC, who will serve as enumerators.

He stated, “Initially, in our work plan, we choose to employ about 1.5 million ad hoc staff members with the assumption that two enumerators would cover one enumeration area, but by the time we did the trial census, we discovered that an enumerator can cover an enumeration area.

“For this 2023 census, we are deploying over 800,000 ad hoc staff members. The NPC is assuring Nigerians that the 2023 census will hold on May 3 to May 5, 2023. No postponement.

“In fact, when we did the trial census last year, we insured all those who worked during the period. Those who had injuries were given between N50,000 and N100,000. So, what we will pay our ad hoc staff members depends on the degree of any eventuality. The same method will as well be deployed for the census.

“The insurance will cover injuries, kidnapping, accidents, deaths etc. For the permanent staff members, they have insurance schemes under the Federal Government and they will be compensated.”

The NPC spokesman also confirmed that all the country’s land borders would be closed as no foreigner would be allowed into Nigeria during the census.

On whether there would be restriction of movement during the census, Yahaya said, “The commission cannot take any decision to restrict movement during the census. What we did was to only table before the Federal Government the need for movement to be restricted and we are hopeful that it will be looked into. The Federal Government is the only authority that can give the go ahead just like the Ministry of Interior issues public holidays.”

According to him, the NPC has requested the deployment of police and other security agents to help protect the ad hoc and permanent staff members as well as the equipment, adding, “We are also working with the traditional institution to guarantee the security of personnel and equipment.”

Commenting on the indefinite postponement of the training of supervisors and enumerators at the local government level, he said the commission would soon lift the suspension.

Yahaya said, “The suspended training will commence very soon. We had to suspend it so that the enumerators could be properly trained. One of the reasons why it was suspended was that the Personal Digital Assistants were yet to be completely delivered at the LGAs where the training would take place. These devices need to be available so that the people can be properly trained. Very soon, the training will commence.

“Oh yes, all our PDAs have been procured and configured. The commission has deployed these devices in state capitals. Currently, they have been deployed in the local government areas.

“In terms of logistics, most of our ad hoc staff members do not need to move to other states as they reside in their locations.

“So far, no staff member of ours has been kidnapped and we have not recorded any casualty. The only time our staff members were kidnapped was in Borno State during the EAD; they were released immediately with the help of the community.”

On threats of cyber attacks on its communication gadgets, Yahaya stated, “The NPC server is absolutely secured against any cyber attack. There are five layers of security to ensure the safety of the data. It is not even possible to attack the server now. No census data has been transmitted, which will happen only during the census.

“The man in the video claiming that the server of the NPC had been hacked acted beyond his mandate and is not competent to speak on behalf of the commission. He is not even a top official; neither does he come into the commission’s headquarters. He is just a member of staff in Minna, Niger State. He will be punished for giving false reports.”

‘Compromise, risk imprisonment’

Meanwhile, the NPC has warned all ad hoc staff members against getting involved in acts that will tarnish its image or be ready to face the consequences.

The commission also warned them to steer clear of compromising the population and housing census or risk being imprisoned.

The warning is contained in Chapter 4 of the NPC’s 2023 census training curriculum obtained by our correspondent on Friday.

According to the document, the responsibilities of conducting a census require the promulgation of laws and rules to guide the behaviours of people, adding that due to the resources involved in the conduct of the headcount, the government needed to make the necessary laws and rules to protect the field officers and give them the mandate to reach out to everyone in the country.

The commission noted that the processes of census needed to be carried out with a proper legal mandate.

The curriculum read in part, “There are other offences, which may be committed by functionaries during the census that are not covered by the Act directly. They include: failure to use the methodology provided and adopted by the commission for the census exercise; and tampering with census materials without authority; forging, falsifying, or manipulating census data.

“Others are failure to report to superior officers anything observed on the field or in the course of duty that may be against the interest of the commission; working at cross purposes with the objectives of the commission; disclosing to the public information lawfully obtained in the course of duty; and taking decisions independently without recourse to superior officers.

“Involvement in political activities while in the employment of the commission; failure to disclose to the commission through superior officers information obtained in the course of duties, which information is useful to the commission; and any other act inimical or detrimental to the interest of the commission and the conduct of the entire census exercise.

“All enumerators and other census functionaries are advised to be conscious of their actions and activities throughout the census exercise and avoid being caught by the law. Considering the above-cited Act, it will constitute an offence for any functionary to work at cross purposes with the objectives of the commission.”

Under Part V of the NPC Act, offences are specified and penalties provided. They include Section 18: Prohibition of debate of census and other population figures without due authority (the ad hoc staff member is guilty of an offence under this section and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years without the option of a fine); Section 19: falsification of returns (he or she is guilty of an offence under this section and liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

“Section 20: Unlawful disclosure and failure to furnish information lawfully requested (the ad hoc staff member is guilty of an offence under this section and liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.).

“Section 22: Unlawful obstruction during census (the ad hoc staff member is guilty of an offence under this subsection and liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000 or imprisonment for a term of three years or to both such fine and imprisonment); and Section 23: Destruction of documents (he or she is guilty of an offence under this section and liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of three years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”