Replacing lost documents in Lagos - passport, NIN, SIM, licence and certificates

Losing a bag in Lagos usually means losing several documents at once, and most of them are replaced the same way: a police report, an affidavit of loss, then an application to whichever office issued the document. Do the urgent things first.

In the first hour

• Block your SIM. Call your network from another phone and have the line barred. Your phone number is the key to your bank accounts.
• Block your cards and banking. Call your bank, or use its emergency USSD code to freeze the account from another phone.
• Change the passwords on your email and banking apps if your phone was taken.
• Tell your embassy if a foreign passport was taken and you need to travel.

Then the paperwork everyone asks for

1. A police report. Report the loss at the police station covering the area where it happened, and ask for a written report - often called a police extract. It should list every document lost. There is no fee for reporting a crime.
2. An affidavit of loss, listing the same documents. In Lagos this is sworn online - see swearing an affidavit.

Make several copies of both. Every office below will want one.

Document by document

Your NIN. The number never changes and does not need replacing. Dial *346# on the phone line linked to it to retrieve it, and reprint the slip, or use the NIMC app. See your NIN.

Your SIM. Take your ID to your network’s own service centre - not a roadside agent - to replace the SIM on the same number. The new SIM is checked against your NIN, so bring that.

Your Nigerian passport. Apply for a replacement through the Nigeria Immigration Service portal, with the police report and the affidavit. It is treated as a fresh application, not a renewal. Abroad, a Nigerian embassy can issue an emergency travel certificate to get you home. See the Nigerian passport.

A foreign passport. Report it to the police, then contact your embassy or high commission, which issues the replacement. If your Nigerian visa or CERPAC was in it, you will then need the NIS to transfer or reissue it.

Your driver’s licence. Apply for a replacement with the police report and affidavit, as for a renewal. See the driver’s licence.

Bank cards. Your bank reissues them; most will deliver to a branch.

School certificates. This is the bad one. WAEC does not reissue a lost certificate. It issues an attestation or statement of result instead, which most employers and universities accept. Most universities take the same position with degree certificates. Keep certified copies of your certificates somewhere other than the originals.

A birth certificate. Apply to the NPC for a certified copy of the entry in the register.

Land documents. A certified true copy can be obtained from the Lagos State Land Registry. See buying land.

Before it happens

• Photograph or scan every document, front and back, and keep the copies in your email or cloud storage.
• Keep originals at home, and carry copies, unless the original is actually needed that day.
• Never hand an original to an agent who says they will “process” something for you.

Emergency numbers